An Ephemeral Marriage
by Kate Anderson
Summary: Sam and Jack are forced to pose as a married couple in order to gain knowledge of a possible Goa'uld living in small town USA.
1. Chapter One

Title: An Ephemeral Marriage  
Author: Kathleen Anderson  
Email: sam_loves_jack@yahoo.ca  
Status: Incomplete   
Pairings: Sam/Jack UST  
Spoilers: all seasons, up to and including four  
Season: Season 4  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Sam and Jack are forced to pose as a married couple in order to gain knowledge of a possible Goa'uld living in small town USA.  
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.   
Author's Notes: This fic is partly inspired by the X-Files episode, "Arcadia"   
  


"Here it is Carter," Jack said as he pulled the sedan up to a house, "Home sweet home." 

Sam rubbed her eyes, they felt gritty. Looking outside, she had to suppress a sigh. At least she got to choose the names. 

The house in question was two stories, with a large deck off one side, steps leading up to the front door and Pepto-Bismol pink. As Sam watched, a large German Shepherd paused to do its business on the lawn. "The van should be here soon," Jack said as he consulted his watch, "We should probably get the house opened up." 

Sam agreed and got out of the car, stretching her cramped leg muscles. The other houses on the street were of a similar style to theirs. but none of them were such a nauseating colour. Jack popped the truck and began hauling out their overnight bags. 

"Well Mrs. Callaghan, let's go take a look at our new digs." Jack slammed the trunk shut and gingerly made his way across the lawn. 

"You're on pooper scooper duty." Sam said sourly as she narrowly avoided a collision that could have ruined her sandals. "Did you ever actually see any pictures of this place sir?" 

Jack shook his head, "No, I didn't and remember the name's Charles. Lisa." he added with a wink. 

"Alright Charles." Sam said, putting exaggerated emphasis on the name. 

They reached the door and Jack set down the bags and rummaged around in his pocket for the keys, "I know they're in here somewhere..." he muttered. "Ah!" Jack said as he produced a set of two keys from the depths of his pocket. 

He unlocked the dead bolt first, then the door knob, "We probably don't need to use both the locks. Just the dead bolt should suffice." Sam shrugged and began to move towards the entrance. Jack put out his hand to stop her. 

"Don't I get to carry you over the threshold?" 

Sam shot Jack a withering glare and Jack backed away. "I think you're enjoying this a bit too much, sir." Sam said as she neatly stepped over the bags and into the house. 

The house was situated on a quiet street, in a quiet neighbourhood, in a quiet town. On the outside, it would appear that nothing much ever happened in this small town. If that were the case, then there would be no need for two well-trained United States military officers to put up the facade of a newly wed couple purchasing their first home. There had been some deliberation over the fact that Colonel O'Neill was much too old to be a newly wed, but that was quickly put aside, as he was the best man for the job. It was then decided that Major Carter would act as his wife, as she was also well trained in matters pertaining to the task at hand. Mr and Mrs Charles Callaghan were married in a small ceremony and soon purchased their home. 

In this small, quiet town lived an evil of almost unimaginable proportions. Unimaginable that is, to anyone living outside the Stargate program. Most people went about their days, blissfully unaware to the organism known as a Goa'uld; a parasitic life-form that takes human hosts. 

Mr. Stanley La Grupa, auto mechanic, generally friendly, plays baseball, just your average American male, or so it would seem. The government had been keeping intelligence on Mr. La Grupa for quite some time now. They believed that Mr La Grupa was in fact a Goa'uld. It is unknown how a Goa'uld managed to get into him or who this Goa'uld believes itself to be. 

The mission for Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter is simple. Infiltrate the life of Mr. La Grupa. Get to know the man. Colonel O'Neill at first believed that this was ridiculous, it would be obvious to anyone that Mr La Grupa wasn't quite normal, because for one thing, his voice would have a distinct mechanic quality to it, and for another, he would probably be going around demanding that everyone worship him. Major Carter then informed him that it likely that the Goa'uld may not have complete control over Mr. La Grupa. That changed everything. 

___________ 

Sam wrinkled her nose as she stepped into the house, "It smells like something died in here." she said, fanning her hand in front of her face. 

Jack shrugged, "Maybe something did. I noticed that the basement window was open a bit. It's not impossible that something could have crawled in through the window, been unable to leave, and eventually died." 

"I'm going to open up the windows. You can check the basement." 

Jack scowled, just a bit, and then went to find the steps leading to the basement. Sam smiled as Jack headed off to do her bidding. This marriage was turning out to be rather promising. Sam then turned her attention to opening the windows. 

Inside, the house wasn't bad. Sure the brown living room carpet left something to be desired, but it was in reasonably good shape. The kitchen had hard wood floors and the bedrooms, all two of them, were carpeted with a plush blue. The bathroom boasted a large tub, with jacuzzi jets and a shower head. Sam turned the tap on and watched as the water, which was initially brown, ran itself clear. 

"Hey Carter, can you come down here for a sec, and bring a plastic bag if you can find one?" 

Sam knew she had packed several plastic bags in her overnight bag and went to get one. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know what Jack had found in the basement. 

The steps leading down the basement were narrow, and uncarpeted. The basement itself was unfinished. Jack was crouched over the far corner, poking at something with a metal rod. 

"Did you a find a bag?" Jack asked, as he heard Sam's footfalls on the bare cement. 

"Yes, I had a few in my overnight bag." She approached him, trying not to breathe in through her nose, and handed a bag to him. 

Jack took the bag and positioned it beside what Sam determined to be a dead cat. 

"How could a cat die down here?" Sam asked, feeling somewhat concerned, "It should have easily been able to get back out." 

Jack stopped prodding the cat long enough to gesture over to another corner with his rod, "I think that might be some kind of poison in the dish over there. Probably meant for rats, but if a hungry kitty found it first." 

"That's terrible." Sam said, as she watched Jack push the cat into the bag, "We should bury it." 

Jack tied the bag up and stood up, his knees protesting from having been crouched down for so long, "You said you had more bags?" Sam nodded. 

"That's good, because I think we're going to want more than one bag wrapped around this cat. You wanna shut the window on your way up? We don't need any visitors." 

Sam went over to the window, and with much effort, managed to get it closed and locked. The basement creeped her out a bit, so Sam hurriedly ran back up the stairs and shut the door at the top. 

__________ 

"Where do you want this one, ma'am?" 

Sam turned to look at the mover holding a large china barrel, "The dining room please." 

Jack came over to Sam and stood beside her, "They've got a few more boxes and then that's it." 

Sam nodded, "Now we just have to unpack all this stuff." She lowered her voice, "It seems rather pointless though, to go to all that work, we aren't going to be here long." 

"I know, but we have to invite people over and stuff. We can only excuse the boxes for so long." 

"Where do you want this one sir?" 

Jack looked at the mover holding a wardrobe box, "In the master bedroom." 

"Doesn't it seem odd to you that no one is outside watching the van being unloaded?" Sam asked, pointing to the large window that allowed them a view of the street. "Every time we moved when I was a kid, the streets would practically be lined with people watching, wanting to help, it was like we were the circus." 

"It is a little unusual, but maybe everyone is at work or school." 

"I thought that the women were all supposed to be bringing casseroles by to welcome us to the neighbourhood." Sam said, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to cook for the next week." 

"All our credit card bills go to the government," Jack said, "We could eat out all the time." 

"What kind of newly wed couple continually eats out? We have to keep up the act." Sam said, practically whispering. 

Outside, the movers were taking up the ramp from the van and shutting the back doors. Jack excused himself from Sam and went out to see them off. 

"Thanks again for all the help guys!" Jack said, trying to sound enthusiastic. 

One of the movers nodded, "We've already received payment for this job, so there's nothing left for you folks to do except unpack." 

"Lisa can't wait to start decorating!" Jack said, knowing full well that Sam would refuse to do anything but put a few paintings on the wall. 

The mover smiled and hopped into the van, "You two have a good life now, ya hear?" 

Jack nodded and waved at the van as it drove off down the street. Just as Jack was ready to head back into the house, a small red car parked in front of the house across the street. Jack watched a man unfolded himself from it. He was tall, with dark hair that was almost black. Jack noticed that he was wearing dirty coveralls. 

The man waved at Jack, a smile crossing his face revealing teeth so white that from his place across the street, Jack could see them clearly. 

"Hey!" the man called over to Jack, "You must be the new couple that we heard was moving in!" 

Jack looked both ways before crossing the street. He approached the man, noting that he had brown eyes. "Name's Charles Callaghan." Jack said, extending a hand. 

The man took it and pumped it enthusiastically, "Stanley La Grupa, but you can call me Stan." 

Jack nodded, noticing that his voice was indeed normal and his eyes were not glowing. "Good to meet ya Stan." 

"Is your wife inside?" Stan asked, nodding in the direction of Jack's house. 

"Yep, she's probably already getting started on the unpacking." 

"Moving's a real bitch." Stan said, "I've done it more than a couple of times myself. What brings you two to a place like this?" 

Mentally Jack went over the rehearsed lines, "Well Lisa and me, we just got married about a week ago, we're looking for some place nice and quiet to settle down and start a family." 

"You've sure picked the right place then, but if you don't mind me asking, you look a bit old to be just a starting a family, is this a second marriage kind of deal?" 

Jack was a bit taken back by this man's forwardness, "Yes, Lisa's my second wife." That part wasn't in the script, but Jack didn't see any harm in saying it. 

"I'd love to meet her sometime. Maybe when I'm not looking like a car barfed all over me!" 

Jack laughed for an appropriate amount of time at the man's attempt at humour, "Well, I'd best get back to Lisa, make sure that she hasn't started wallpapering without me!" 

Stan smiled, "It's sure nice to have some new folks around." he said, and turned on his heels and headed up the walk to his house. 

___________ 

"Who was that you were talking to out there?" Sam asked when Jack got back to the house. 

"Our resident Goa'uld. Mr La Grupa himself." Jack said as he looked around, "I see that you've been busy." 

Sam rolled her eyes and kicked one of the boxes, "I hate moving, besides I'm tired, I don't feel like opening any boxes." 

"Fair enough. You hungry?" 

Sam nodded, "Famished." 

"I think that it would be normal enough for us to go out to dinner tonight, after all, we probably don't have the pans unpacked yet." 

Sam was already at the door and putting her sandals on. "What do you feel like?" she called to Jack. 

"I feel too damn old for this whole thing." Jack replied. 

"That wasn't what I meant. What do you want for supper?" 

"Pizza? Chinese? Italian? I don't really care. I say that we just get in the car and drive until we find a restaurant." 

"Sounds good to me." Sam said as she pulled on her jacket. 

The day was quickly turning into evening and the air was getting chilly. It was a pleasant temperature after the sweltering heat of the afternoon. "We still have to bury the cat." Sam said, getting into the car. 

"I know. We can do that when we get home. I don't feel like burying it before I eat." 

"Where did you put it anyway?" 

"The cat?" Sam nodded. 

"Oh, I put it under the deck." 

"Just so long as it isn't in the house any more. Do you suppose that we could get the house painted?" 

"Why? You said yourself that we aren't going to be here long." 

Sam tugged at the seatbelt as it dug into her neck, "I know, but I don't know if I can stand living in a pink house for any length of time." 

Jack laughed, "It is pretty horrid, isn't it. Well, I guess we could hire some painters. It would be the normal thing to do. Most people don't want to live in a pink house." 

"I can't believe that we agreed to do this." 

Jack stopped at a red light, "We didn't really have much choice. The President himself hand picked us for this assignment." 

"If Mr La Grupa really is a Goa'uld," Sam said, "I should know it the first time I get into close proximity with him. If he is, I don't see why we can't just call in a SWAT team to deal with him." 

"I guess they want us to get to know him." 

"Mr La Grupa, or the Goa'uld?" 

"Both, if possible. I think that a Chinese restaurant up ahead on the right." 

Sam looked out the window, "Well with a name like Hoy Ping's Chinese Kitchen, I think that's a pretty safe bet." 

Jack flicked on the turn signal and pulled into the lot. "How are we supposed to get to the Goa'uld?" Sam asked, "It's not as if we can go up to him and say 'Excuse me sir, would you mind if we chatted with your Goa'uld for a few minutes?'" 

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Jack said, throwing open his door, "But if you don't mind Carter, I'm hungry and I'd like to get something eat. No more talking about Goa'ulds, it really suppresses my appetite." 

"Do you think we could get Daniel, Teal'c or Janet up here to visit us?" 

Jack waited for Sam to get her jacket unravelled from the side mirrors, "Well, I guess we could pass Janet or Daniel off as relatives, but Teal'c?" 

"He could just be a friend coming for a visit." Sam said, tugging her jacket back down around her waist. 

"We'll have to see what Hammond and the rest of the boys up high have to say about that one." 

Jack pushed open the door to the restaurant and breathed in the aroma of fresh Chinese food. Sam stepped in ahead of him and they stood behind the sign that read, "Please wait to be seated" The restaurant was empty save for a young man seated at a corner table, but they waited anyway. 

"Table for two?" Jack smiled and nodded at a young Chinese woman, who picked up two menus from the holder on the wall, "Smoking or non?" 

"Non please." Sam said politely. 

"Right this way then." Sam and Jack followed the woman to a table on the other side of the room from the young man. 

"What is it with this town?" Sam asked, opening her menu, "It's like everyone locks themselves up in their homes and never leave." 

Jack checked his watch, "It's only six, maybe it's still too early for the supper crowd. People must go out, otherwise restaurants wouldn't be here." 

"Can I take your drink orders?" asked the same young woman. 

Sam and Jack both ordered iced teas and told the woman that they still needed a few minutes to decide on the food. 

"I say that we go for this platter for two." Jack said, stabbing his finger at the menu. 

Sam nodded, "Sounds good to me. I'm so hungry right now that I'd eat almost anything." As if to back up that statement, Sam's stomach growled. 

"I'm gonna find the washrooms, I didn't get a chance to wash my hands before leaving the house." Jack said, standing up and looked around. There was a sign for the washrooms on the wall, right above a door. 

Sam watched Jack go, trying not to notice his jeans and leather jacket. "Are you ready to order now?" Sam looked up at the smiling face of the waitress, who was taking drinks off a tray. 

"Uh yeah, I am. We'll get this platter for two here." she said, pointing at the menu. 

"Ah yes, very good choice!" the waitress said, gathering up the menus. Sam smiled at the woman and watched her walk away. 

Sam looked out the window as she waited for Jack to return. A few cars drove by, their headlights flashing in the window. Across the street was a hardware store, closed for the night. "Did you order?" 

Jack sat back down again and Sam nodded, "Yeah, about a minute ago." 

Jack took a sip of his iced tea and then pushed it away, "Wow, that's sweet." 

Sam took a small sip and grimaced, "Extremely sweet. I can't even taste the tea. It's like sugar water with a bit of lemon flavour." 

"I knew I should have ordered some cola, at least that always tastes the same no matter where you go." 

Sam smiled and took another small sip of her sugar water. She and Jack then passed the time until their food arrived with idle conversation. 


	2. Chapter Two

"Do you know what box the plates are in?" Sam called to Jack, who was doing something in the bathroom that required a lot of banging around. It sounded like he was trying to tear the pipes apart or remove them. 

"Mmmm..I think they got put in the big box in the dining room." was Jack's slightly muffled reply. 

Sam stepped into the dining room and stared at the veritable mountain of boxes. There were plenty of big ones. She marched over to one, wielding a knife. "Okay box, you will surrender the plates now!" she said and cut through the tape on top. In her mind, she imagined that the box was screaming and pleading for its life. 

As Sam was pulling through the packing paper on top, the doorbell rang. "Can you get that?" Jack yelled from the bathroom, "I'm kind of busy right now! Ouch dammit!" 

Sam left the box which had yet to produce the plates and went over to the door. It was Mr. La Grupa. Sam pasted a smile on her face and said hello. 

"You must be Lisa!" said Stan. 

Sam smiled and nodded, "And you are?" 

"Stanley La Grupa, but you can call me Stan. Your husband and I met yesterday. I live in the brown house across the street." 

"Ah, yes. It's nice to meet you Stan." 

Stan smiled, showing his white teeth. Sam wanted to back away but stayed where she was. "I just thought that I'd come over and see how you folks were making out." 

"We're doing fine. I was just trying to find some plates so that I could make a proper dinner tonight." 

"Where is your husband, Charles is it?" 

"Yes Charles. He's in the bathroom, doing something with the pipes I think." 

"Your pipes leaking?" Stan asked, looking eager to help. 

"Yeah, something like that. I'm sure he would appreciate some help." Sam said, trying not to sound false. 

Stan nodded and stepped by Sam and headed towards the bathroom. Sam couldn't help but notice that he knew exactly where he was going. It was possible, of course, that he had known the previous occupants of the house, but it made Sam uneasy. 

Sam heard Stan talking to Jack in the bathroom and decided to try and ignore the fact that a Goa'uld could be in the house with her and keep looking for those plates. She knelt down beside the box that she had opened and began rummaging through the papers again. 

______________ 

"Was Stan any help with the pipes?" Sam asked Jack later that day. Jack shrugged and pulled at his shirt, which Sam was trying not to notice was kind of sweaty. 

"He might be a good auto mechanic, but he's no plumber. I can't believe how hot it is here! I feel like I'm swimming in the air." 

"It's the humidity, we'll have to get the air conditioner running soon." 

"Did you ever find the plates?" 

Sam nodded and gestured to a stack of plates sitting on the counter beside the sink, "Yes, after I looked through all the boxes in the dining room. I can't believe the Air Force gave us this much stuff." 

Jack shook his head, "A million teacups and saucers, but they couldn't spring for another bed." 

"I told you that we could take turns sleeping on the couch." 

"I think we should try to requisition another bed. They seem to be taking this whole 'married couple' thing too far. Plenty of married couples have extra beds!" 

"I need to go to shopping," Sam said gazing over at the fridge, "We have no food in the house." 

"Let me get changed, then we'll find a store, 'kay?" 

Sam nodded and went over to the living room window. She saw Stan out in his front lawn, apparently doing some weeding. He stood up and put both hands on his back to stretch it out. A large wheelbarrow was beside him, clumps of dirt were hanging over the edge. Stan saw Sam standing in her window and waved at her. Startled, Sam waved back before turning around and leaving the window. 

Goa'ulds don't normally weed their lawns, Sam thought, but this was no ordinary Goa'uld. 

"Oh Carter, I meant to ask you," Jack said, walking into the living room, still tucking his shirt into his pants, "Did you get any feeling from our man Stan?" 

"Yes, he is a Goa'uld, there's no doubt about it." 

"Do you think it's possible that he's not a bad Goa'uld?" Jack asked as he searched his coat pocket for the car keys. 

"Like the Tok'ra?" 

"Yeah like the Tok'ra." Jack had found his keys and was heading out of the house. Sam followed him, still trying to tug on her sandals. 

Sam shrugged, "I suppose that it's possible. It would explain why his voice isn't modified and why his eyes don't glow. The Goa'uld might be letting the host stay in charge." 

"I think I saw a grocery store near that Chinese place food yesterday." Jack said under his breath. 

"What?" 

"Oh I was just talking to myself, I said I that I think I saw a grocery store near that Chinese food place we were at yesterday." 

Sam shut the car door, "That was good food, even if their iced tea left something to be desired. Have you seen anyone else on this street besides Stan?" 

Jack shook his head, "I haven't really been looking for anyone. You're not thinking that Stan's killed everyone do you?" 

Sam laughed, "No, the police would have arrested him long ago if that were the case. I would think that many shallow graves in his backyard would be a dead give away." 

"Maybe they're just all really busy with their jobs." 

Sam nodded, "Yep, they're all working real hard down at that hardware store." 

"I was thinking of maybe getting a job there myself." 

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Really?" 

"Sure, why not? We both can't not work for too long. You don't think I could work there?" 

"I guess I've just never seen you as a hardware type guy." 

"Well, I don't think there's a whole lot of strategic battle planning, or black ops for me to do around here." 

Sam shook her head and sighed, leaning her head against the window. Jack glanced over at her and then turned his head back towards the road as a small black pick-up pulled out in front of him. Jack slammed on the brakes, causing Sam to smack her head against the window. 

"Idiot!" Jack yelled, slamming his hands on the steering wheel, "I hate it when people don't even bother to look before pulling out onto the road." 

Sam sighed again and rubbed her head, "I think that's a grocery store over there." she said, "I think I should pick up some Advil while we're there." 

__________ 

Sam put the milk away in the fridge, then closed the door and scrunched up the plastic bag. Jack was mucking around with patio furniture on the deck. Lord knows why the Air Force felt they had to supply them with cheap patio furniture. 

As Sam went to grab a glass from the cupboard, a small knock sounded at the front door. Sam prayed that it wasn't Mr. La Grupa coming over to help Jack organize that patio. She wouldn't have been surprised. 

Sam looked through the small peep hole and saw a distorted image of a woman. Sam put on a smile and opened the door. The woman standing on the stoop was short, much smaller than Sam herself, with blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. 

"Hello," the woman said, extending her hand, "My name's Bonnie. I live just down the street from you. I'm sorry that I couldn't stop by sooner, but you know how work goes these days, it's impossible to get away sometimes." 

Sam took the woman's hand and shook it, "My name's Lisa. Lisa Callaghan." 

"Lisa is such a pretty name," Bonnie said, "I have a cousin named Lisa." 

Sam grinned at the woman. She seemed very friendly. "My husband is out on the deck trying to perfect the patio furniture. Do you want to come in and have a drink?" 

Bonnie looked a bit hesitant but soon agreed. "You have a lovely house." Bonnie said. 

"Uh thanks, I guess. We're going to get the outside repainted soon. Do you happen to know who lived here before us?" 

Bonnie nodded, "It was an older woman. She had three small dogs, Yorkies I think, and she kept a beautiful garden out back." 

"I have some orange juice, cider and some coolers." 

"I have to go out again tonight, so I'll have some orange juice, thank you." 

"What happened to the lady, did she move out?" 

Bonnie looked a bit nervous, she was wringing her hands. "Well, kind of. She died actually, about four months ago." 

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know." Sam said honestly. 

"It's alright, we weren't really close or anything. I looked after the dogs sometimes if she had to go out somewhere. She'd bring over flowers from her garden occasionally." 

The patio door slid open and Jack stepped into the house, wiping the sweat from his brow. He smiled at Bonnie and went over to pour himself a glass of juice. 

"Charles," Sam said, "This is Bonnie, she lives down the street. Bonnie, this is my husband Charles." 

Jack put down his glass and shook hands with Bonnie, "It's nice to finally meet someone Bonnie!" 

Bonnie looked puzzled, "You haven't met anyone else?" 

"Aside from Stan across the way, no one." Sam said. 

"Stan's a good guy. He would come over and help Mrs. Hatten sometimes. She's the one that owned this house before you two." 

"Have you lived here long Bonnie?" Jack asked, pouring himself another glass of juice. 

Bonnie's foot began to tap on the floor, "Uhm, a couple of years. Not long really, no." 

Sam and Jack exchanged glances and both looked at Bonnie's tapping foot and wringing hands. Bonnie put down her glass and stood up, "Well, I should probably be going. It was really nice to meet you Charles and Lisa!" 

"I'll see you to the door." Sam said, putting down her glass. Jack just smiled. 

Sam led Bonnie to the door and waved her off. Jack joined Sam as she shut the door. "Well," Jack said, "that was strange." 

Sam almost laughed, "If Teal'c were here, he'd probably say indeed." 

Jack raised an eyebrow in an almost perfect Teal'c-esque fashion, "Indeed." he said, trying to keep a straight face. Sam giggled. 

"Seriously though sir," Sam said, sobering up, "I think that something isn't right around here. This whole neighbourhood seems a bit off." 

"Stop calling me sir, what if someone heard you? And no, something definitely isn't right around here." 

"I feel like I'm stuck in an episode of the Twilight Zone or the X-Files. Ah well, anyway, did you get that patio furniture set up?" 

Jack nodded and flexed his muscles, "Me big man. Me conquer patio furniture." 

Sam gave Jack a look and laughed again, "Good, at least we can eat outside tonight. I was thinking that I'd make potato salad for supper?" 

"Just a potato salad?" 

"If you feel like barbequing we could have chicken breasts too." 

"Do we have any propane?" 

Sam shrugged, "I don't know. What was in those boxes that were put in the shed?" 

"I don't know, I guess I'll go look." 

"You wanna look for a shovel while you're at it? We still have to bury that cat." 

Jack nodded and stepped out the door and slipped around the side of the house. 

____________ 

"Do you think that we should have put a stone over the grave or something?" 

Jack spat a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink, "Why?" 

Sam grabbed a facecloth from the towel rack, "So that something doesn't try to dig it up." 

"We can do that tomorrow, assuming that something hasn't dug it up already. Can you pass me the glass?" 

Sam handed Jack the glass and set to work washing her face. "I was thinking sir, I can take the couch tonight if you want." 

"I thought I told you to stop calling me sir." 

"Sorry, old habits die hard. Do you want me to take the couch? You've been doing a lot of work today, your body might thank you." 

Jack considered that for a moment, "Why can't we both take the bed? he said finally, "It's a king, plenty big enough for the both of us." 

"Oh, well, I don't know." Sam said slowly. 

"I promise that I won't try to cuddle," Jack said, "if that's what you're worried about." 

Sam felt a blush spreading over her cheeks, "No, it's not that, it's just.." 

"Look, if it really bothers you, take the couch then." 

Sam nodded, looking at her face in the mirror. Large red spots had appeared on her cheeks, "I think I'll take the couch." 

"Suit yourself. I'm going to bed now." 

Sam watched Jack's retreating form in the mirror and cursed herself for being so immature. It wasn't like Jack was going to try to seduce her if they slept in the same bed. His suggestion had been harmless. She put the facecloth back on the rack, brushed her teeth and headed out to the living room. 

The drapes were drawn across the large window but the boxes littering the room were still illuminated by the faint glow coming from outside. She threw a pillow down at one end of the couch and laid down, pulling a sheet up over herself. It was still too hot for anything heavier. 

Sam tossed and turned for a while, trying to get comfortable on the narrow couch. Obviously the Air Force hadn't bought the couch for comfort. Outside a car door slammed. Curious, Sam got up and went over the window. She drew the curtains aside just enough so that she could peek. Another car had appeared behind Stan's red one. Two men had gotten out and were heading up along the walk. She watched as they waited outside for a minute, before the door opened and admitted them into the house. 

Sam pondered this for a few minutes before her brain decided that it was too tired to come up with theories and told her to lay back down and get some sleep. Sam obliged and soon fell into a restless sleep. 

___________ 

"Morning Lisa, how did you sleep last night, honey?" 

Sam glanced up at Jack as he entered the kitchen with a huge grin on his face. 

"Mmphmm." she said, not caring if she spat toast crumbs all over the counter. 

"That well huh?" 

"Did you know that Mr Stan had a few visitors late last night?" 

Jack picked a box of Corn Pops up from the shelf, "No, I didn't. Who do you think they were?" 

Sam shrugged, "I don't know, I couldn't get a good look at them. They were driving a fairly expensive looking car though. It might have been a BMW." 

Jack dumped the cereal into a bowl and then looked at the counter, "Where did you put the sugar?" 

"Sugar? You want sugar on that cereal?" 

Jack shrugged, "The heart wants what the heart wants." 

Sam grimaced, "It's in the second cupboard to your left, top shelf. And you know, for a guy who hates cliches so much, you sure do use a lot of them." 

Jack happily sprinkled sugar over his Corn Pops, "C'est la vie Lisa, c'est la vie. So what's the plan for today?" 

"I was thinking that maybe you should go and apply for a few jobs. I'll stay here like the happy homemaker that I am." 

"Oh, good plan!" Jack said, "I put the resumes supplied by the government somewhere. Wherever my briefcase ended up is where the resumes ended up." 

"I just hope that Stan doesn't decide to drop by again today." Sam said with a shudder. 

"I'll my cell with me," Jack said seriously, "If he does drop by and starts giving you trouble, call me. I'm serious Sam, call me." 

"I can take care of myself." Sam muttered under her breath. 

Jack either didn't hear her or chose to ignore that comment. Sam watched as he ate sugar coated Corn Pops, pretending not to feel some thrill over Jack's protective statement. Sam decided then that she was seriously in denial.   
  



	3. Chapter Three

"Well Mr. Callaghan, I'll take a look at your resume, but I can't promise you anything. I don't think that I can afford to take on another employee at the moment." 

Jack nodded, "I understand. The economy is bad all over these days." 

Bill Jakes, owner of Jakes' Hardware smiled at Jack, "I can tell you that Patrick Mooney down at the pub has been looking to take on someone to help out the kitchen, if you're interested in doing that sort of thing." 

Jack couldn't see himself working in a pub but he thanked for Bill for passing along that information. Bill smiled at Jack again and offered his hand. Jack took it and shook it. "Good luck with finding a job." Bill said, "And remember, if you ever need any nails, screws, paint, whatever, I'm your man." 

Jack thanked Bill again and left the hardware store. He went over to his car, which he noticed was taking up two parking spaces. The hardware store had been the last place that Jack had visited. He had taken to heart Sam's comment that she never seen him as a hardware type guy. 

Jack briefly considered visiting this Patrick Mooney down at the pub, but then thought better of it and decided to go back home to Sam. Back home to Sam. Jack liked the sound of that, it had been years since he'd had someone to come home to. 

As Jack turned the ignition, his cell phone rang, startling him. Jack dug it out of his pocket, "Sam?" he said, sincerely hoping that Stan hadn't paid her an unwelcomed visit. 

"Yeah it's me." 

"You alright? Is Stan there?" 

"No, I haven't seen him all day. I was actually calling to see if you could stop and pick up some bread. I can't believe that we forgot to buy that yesterday." 

"Yeah sure, no problem." 

"So, did you have any luck?" 

Jack sighed, "No, would you believe that no one is hiring in this town?" 

Sam sounded like she had the TV on in the background, either that or she had half the neighbourhood visiting, "Did the cable guys come today?" Jack asked, fervently hoping that they had. He was going into hockey withdrawal. 

"Yep, they came around ten, we're all hooked up now." 

"That's good. Anyway, I'd better go now. I'll stop at the market and get some bread. Was there anything else that we needed?" 

"Uh," Sam said over the laugh track in the background, "If there's anything else that grabs you." 

Jack had visions of bags of chips and pepperoni dancing in his head, "Okay, will do. I'll see you later." 

"Later." The phone clicked and the line went dead. Jack stuffed his phone back in his pocket and put the car into drive. As he was leaving the lot, a black BMW sedan drove in and parked in the space that Jack had recently vacated. 

____________ 

"Did you see Bonnie again today?" Jack asked as he stood in the kitchen and watched Sam cut up celery sticks. 

"Yep, she dropped by just after the cable guys left." 

"Was she as nervous as she was yesterday?" 

Sam shook her head and grabbed another stalk of celery, "No, but I didn't ask her any questions relating to the neighbourhood. That seemed to be what got her going yesterday." 

"This whole town is whacko if you ask me." 

Sam turned around and looked at Jack with an amused expression on her face, "Whacko? Is that the technical term for it?" 

"It's the best term that I can think of. Do you want me to do anything?" 

Sam closed her eyes for a moment and thought, "You can set the table if you want. I think we'll eat inside tonight, it looks like rain out there." 

Jack looked out the kitchen window and saw dark clouds looming overhead, "Looks like we might be in for a storm. Think we'd better batten down the hatches?" 

"If you mean close the windows, yes probably, unless we want our carpets cleaned." 

Jack opened the cupboard door just above his head and took our two plates. He looked at the yellow flower pattern with disdain. "Why do all plates seem to have flowers on them?" 

"I guess that's the most popular design. What do you want on plates? Hockey players? Machine guns?" 

Jack dug forks and knives out of the cutlery drawer. "Hockey players would be nice." 

The table in the dining room was made of a dark wood, with a single leg supporting it. Jack had found out the hard way that if you leaned on the table too hard, it would fall over. He very carefully moved the floral centrepiece and set down the plates on the two placemats. Jack didn't care what side the fork was to be on and what side the knife was supposed to be on, so he randomly set them down. 

"Do you think that we should invite Bonnie over for dinner one night?" Sam asked from the kitchen. "She lives alone and besides, it would be a good way to try and get more information out of her." 

Jack grabbed a couple of wine glasses from the china cabinet and set them down beside the plates. "Our first dinner guest. Sounds good to me. You like red wine, right honeybunch?" 

Sam's head appeared from around the corner, "Honeybunch?" 

"Just playing the part, snookums." 

Sam tossed a pot holder at Jack. "Yes, I like red wine. Did you pick some up while you were out?" 

"Yep, I've got it right here." Jack picked up a brown paper bag and pulled out a bottle. "Cabernet Sauvignon." 

Sam came out into the dining room and set a bowl of steaming rice down on the pot holder. Jack poured the wine into the glasses and sat down to wait while Sam brought out the main course. 

___________ 

"Was that General Hammond on the phone?" Sam asked after Jack had hung up the phone. 

"Yes, he apologized for interrupting our dinner." 

"What did he have to say about Stan?" 

"Apparently the government knows nothing about the visitors he had last night. They could have just been some buddies from work for all we know. He also said that he's going to be sending Daniel and Janet down for a visit." 

Sam smiled, "At least we'll have some normal people to talk to." 

"The government is inventing identities for them. They'll probably be related to us somehow, though I don't think that Janet would pass as your sister." 

Sam opened her mouth to make a comment on Janet's height, or rather lack thereof, but was stopped by a rapping on the door. Jack glanced over at the clock on the stereo. "You expecting anyone?" he asked Sam. Sam shook her head. 

If Jack had been truly paranoid, he would have grabbed his gun before answering the door, but as it was, he felt that his hand to hand combat training was enough and opened the door. Stan stood there, displaying his teeth. 

"Howdy Charles!" he said, still smiling. 

Jack hoped that his smile didn't look too much like a snarl and greeted Stan. "What brings you over this evening Stan?" 

"Well, I was just getting ready to head over to my baseball game tonight and thought that I'd drop by and see if you were interested in coming along. You play baseball Charles?" 

Jack hesitated, "Oh well, not since college. You know, the knees aren't quite what they used to be." 

"Oh come on, you don't have to do a lot of running. You look like you've got a good arm on ya." 

Jack looked at his arms and could have sworn he heard Sam snickering in the living room, "I haven't played in years. Hockey is more of my game." 

Stan nodded, "Not a whole lotta ice around here for that. Come on Charles, just give it a go. I can introduce you to the rest of the guys. If your little lady doesn't mind, we like to go for a beer down at Mooney's afterwards." 

Jack felt his 'little lady' rest her hand on his shoulder, "You go ahead dear," she said, "I've got plenty of stuff that I can do here." 

Jack looked outside, desperate for any excuse. He noticed the clouds again. "Looks like rain tonight." he said, gazing pointedly at Stan. 

Stan nodded, "A little rain ain't never hurt nobody. Besides, it makes sliding into home all the more fun!" 

Jack sighed and reached for his jacket. "I guess I'll come along, but I don't have a glove." 

Stan smiled, his white teeth gleaming. "No problem. I've got an extra one." 

Sam wished Jack a fond farewell and then watched as he followed Stan to his car. 

__________ 

Jack stood in center field cursing his luck. His jacket was dripping and water was running down from his hair and into his eyes. Apparently when it rained here, it really rained. Stan and buddies didn't even seem to notice the downpour and continued with their game. Jack watched as Stan threw the ball and one the guys, his name might have been Ray, took a swing. 

Overhead a flash of lightning temporarily illuminated the dark sky. Jack idly wondered if holding a metal bat was such a good idea in this type of weather. Thunder soon followed, a deep rumbling that seemed to come all around. The rain intensified, making it difficult to see more than six feet. 

"Hey guys!" someone shouted, "I think we should call it a night. This storm could be bad!" 

"We still gonna head over to Mooney's?" someone asked. 

"'Course we are! It wouldn't be baseball night without a trip to Mooney's!" another voice said. Jack recognized it as Stan. "Charles, you gonna come with us?" 

Jack decided that seeing as he'd come in the same car as Stan that he didn't have much choice in the matter, "Yeah, I'll come, but I can't stay too late. Lisa gets nervous around thunderstorms." Of course that wasn't true, as Sam relished a good storm, but it sounded like an appropriate excuse. 

The man who might be named Ray laughed, "I hear ya buddy. My wife, Jeanine, she's terrified of storms. Hides under the covers every time one of 'em starts brewing. Takes the dog with her!" 

The other guys laughed as they gathered up the equipment and headed towards the parking lot. The baseball diamond, the only one in town, was located at the elementary school. The school itself looked normal enough for a small town school. There was some dilapidated playing equipment in the field and the windows of the classrooms were decorated with paintings and drawings. 

Jack followed Stan back to his small red car, tossing his wet jacket and glove into the back seat. "You smoke Charles?" Stan asked as he got into the driver's seat. 

Jack shook his head, "Nope. I used to, but I quit a couple of years ago." 

Stan grinned, "A man after my own heart. I used to smoke like a chimney. Got tired of feeling sluggish all the time, so I finally decided it was time to quit. Damn hardest thing that I've ever done in my life. A lot of the other guys, they smoke. I've been tryin' to get them to quit, but they say it's their only vice." 

"You lived here long Stan?" 

Stan nodded, "Been here for ten years now. I can't ever imagine leaving. The Mooney I make is good, the people are friendly. I got no reason for leaving. Where did you leave before movin' here?" 

Jack coughed. "Washington." 

"The state?" 

Jack nodded, "Just outside of Seattle." 

"If you don't mind me asking," Stan said slowly, "How did you and Lisa meet? I like to know these things seeing as I'm not married myself. I have to live vicariously through others." 

"We met through a mutual friend," Jack said, using the story that he had been given. "One of the women I worked with happened to have this single friend and she thought that we'd be a good match. She introduced us, we had dinner and the rest, as they say, is history." 

"That's a nice way to meet someone." Stan commented. "One of the guys, Ron, he was the one with the red hair, he met his wife when he ran her over with his truck. He felt real bad about it, so he went to see her in the hospital nearly everyday. Brought her flowers too. Well here we are, Mooney's pub. You been here yet?" 

Jack shook his head, "No, Lisa and I have only had the chance to visit the China Kitchen." 

"Great food there. Did you try their sweet and sour cat?" 

Jack's eyebrows nearly hit the roof of the car, "Pardon? Their cat?" 

Stan laughed, turning off the engine. "It's not really cat, but that's what they like to call it. You should try it someday. It's real good." 

"I'll do that, thanks." Jack opened the door and ran across the parking lot to the shelter of the overhang. The rain had created large puddles in the lot. Rainbow coloured oil slicks created a film across most of them. Jack wondered if everyone in town had vehicles that leaked, maybe Stan wasn't getting as much business as he should be. 

When Stan and Jack entered the pub they found everyone waiting for them inside. The place was dimly lit, with the distinct odour of cigarette smoke hanging in the air. On one wall a fire burned brightly, Jack suspected that it was one of those natural gas fireplaces rather than wood burning. Stan took the liberty of ordering a pint of ale for both of them and then they took a seat. 

___________ 

Jack awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. Sam, who was industriously vacuuming the couch around him wasn't helping matters any. 

"Maaarg." Jack said as he sat up. Sam flicked the vacuum off and looked at him, a smirk playing across her face. 

"Late night?" she asked, waving the vacuum's wand around. 

"You have no idea." Jack said, as he buried his head in his hands. 

"Find out anything interesting about Stan?" she asked. "Or were you too busy with other endeavours." 

"We played baseball, but then the lightning started, so we left and headed over to Mooney's pub. Great beer there. Good potato skins too." 

"How many pints did you have?" 

"Not many. I can't believe that I'm hung over. That must be some wicked strong beer they have there." 

"Stan dropped you off just after one last night. He looked fine as he walked you to the door." 

Jack rubbed his temples in an effort to stop the pain, "You don't think..." 

"Think what?" Sam asked, as she moved a pile of flattened boxes out of the way. 

"Think that they put something in my drink." Jack finished. 

Sam sighed, "All we know is that Stan is a Goa'uld. That doesn't mean that the whole town is against us. Besides, they all think that we're just a newly wed couple. They have no reason to try and harm you or me. Maybe you can't hold your liquor as well as you used to." 

"If you say so, but I'm telling you, something funny is going on here." 

Sam put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you go take a shower. I'm sure you'll feel better after that." 

Jack pushed himself off the couch and went down the hall towards the bathroom. Sam turned the vacuum back on again and continued with her cleaning. Jack gazed down at the tub and noticed the jacuzzi jets. If they actually worked, that would just the thing he needed. 

Taking off his clothes, Jack ran water into the tub. He felt a bit foolish looking through the cabinet for some bubble bath, but didn't find any. Just plain water would have to do. After the tub had been filled almost to the brim, Jack opened the medicine cabinet and located the Advil that Sam had bought the other day. He took three of them, even though the package said to take only two. 

Jack regarded the tub for a moment, trying to find the switch to turn on the jets. He pulled at a knob, but it didn't seem to do anything. "Sam?" Jack called, hoping to be heard over the vacuum. He got no response. 

After putting a towel around his waist, Jack wandered back down to the hall to the living room. Sam was bent over, sticking the wand into the space between the wall and the entertainment center. "Sam!" Jack said loudly. 

Sam whirled around, wand in hand. Jack watched as the wand moved closer and closer to his towel. Sam, who was too busy not noticing that Jack had no shirt on, wasn't watching where she was pointing the vacuum. The vacuum, for its part, didn't seem to care what it sucked up and grabbed ahold of the bottom of Jack's towel. 

Jack felt a cool breeze on his backside and looked at the vacuum wand, trying its hardest to fully engulf his towel. The motor began making a high pitched squeal as it started to overheat. Sam turned her gaze downwards and felt a blush creep over her cheeks. 

"Dammit Sam, turn off the vacuum!" Jack yelled, placing his hands strategically in front of him. 

Sam snapped out of the daze she was in and flicked the switch. Jack yanked the towel out of the wand and wrapped it around himself again. 

"Uh.." Sam said, her face still bright red, "Sorry about that, sir." 

Jack rubbed at his temples again, "No problem. I'm just going to go back to the bathroom now and pretend that Bonnie isn't standing in our front lawn looking in through the window." 

Sam's eyes widened and she started to laugh. "What did you come out here for?" she asked, after her laughter had subsided. 

"I wanted to ask you if you knew how to use the jets in the tubs. I think that Bonnie's going to be ringing the doorbell soon." 

Sam shook her head, "I was trying to figure them out last night, but with no luck. I'll take a closer look at them one day." 

The doorbell rang and Jack hurried back to the bathroom. Sam went over to the door and let Bonnie in. 

"Hey Lisa. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" 

Sam felt her cheeks still burning, "No, I was just doing some vacuuming." 

Bonnie nodded, "I just wanted to see if you were interested in coming over for some coffee? I mean, I've imposed upon you twice now, I just thought that if you wanted to, you could come over and see my place." 

Sam looked at Bonnie's eager face, she obviously wanted some company. "Yeah sure, that sounds great. Just let me go tell Charles where I'm going, and then I'll be right back!" 

Sam walked down the hall and knocked on the bathroom door, "Uh honey." she said, knowing that Bonnie could most likely hear her, "I'm going to Bonnie's for coffee, okay?" 

A bit of splashing was heard from in the bathroom followed by Jack's voice. "Uh huh. I think I'm just going to stay here and relax." 

"You do that, I'll see you later." Sam went back down the hall and found Bonnie waiting for her. 

"I'm so glad that you're coming over Lisa." Bonnie said enthusiastically. "I hardly ever have company. I want to show you some of my paintings." 

"You paint?" 

"I dabble a bit with watercolours." 

"That's wonderful. I'm afraid I'm not much of an artist myself. I'm very good at drawing stick people though!" 

Bonnie laughed as Sam stepped out the door and into the bright sunshine.   
  



	4. Chapter Four

"Wow." Sam breathed, "These are fantastic!" 

Bonnie grinned, "You really think so?" 

Sam nodded, "Yes I do. Have you ever tried to sell your work?" 

Bonnie looked at the floor as if fascinated by the linoleum. Sam saw a blush on her face. "No, I didn't think that anyone would be interested." 

"They're gorgeous, they really are. Have you ever been to the ocean?" 

Bonnie shook her head, "No, I paint from images in my mind." 

Sam put her hand on Bonnie's shoulder, "You have an amazing gift." she said, "My mind doesn't work like yours. I can see diagrams for engines but I can't visualize the ocean and paint it." 

"What do you do Lisa?" Bonnie asked, "Are you a mechanic?" 

Sam pursed her lips, "Not a mechanic per se, but I do repair things. I like to figure out how things work." 

"But you're not working?" 

"No, when Charles and I got married, we decided that he would work while I stayed at home. We're planning on starting a family soon." 

Bonnie's face lit up, "That's wonderful! It'll be so nice to have children in the neighbourhood!" 

Sam's brow wrinkled, "You mean there isn't any kids here now?" 

"No, not any more." Bonnie said, with a touch of sadness in her voice, "There used to be a family living across the street from me, they had three beautiful children. One of them was killed about a year ago. Police said it was an accident, he didn't look before he ran out into the street. After that, the parents decided to move." 

"That's so sad." Sam said, "It must have been awful for them to lose a child. It's no wonder they left." 

"Enough of this depressing talk!" Bonnie said. "I'll put the kettle on. You don't mind instant coffee do you? I just hate those percolators." 

"No, instant's fine with me. No point in going to anymore trouble than you have." 

"My thoughts exactly." Bonnie replied as she set the kettle down on a burner. 

___________ 

"So, Bonnie told me today that there used to be children living here, but one of them was killed a couple years back." 

"Killed? How?" 

"Hit by a car from what I could gather. Apparently his parents decided to move after that. Bonnie said they had two other children." 

"Did she say who hit the child?" 

Sam's eyes widened, "No and I didn't ask her either. It would been awfully insensitive of me to ask that." 

Jack ran himself another glass of water and gulped it down, "It's gonna be another scorcher." he said. "I'm feeling sweaty already." 

"I haven't called the air conditioning guys yet. You're not thinking that Stan ran over this child are you?" 

Jack shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe the kid saw something that he shouldn't have. Kids are naturally very curious you know." 

Sam sat down with a thud, "This is getting too weird," she said, "You coming up with all these theories regarding Stan, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were channelling Fox Mulder." 

"What can I say? Undercover work just brings out the best in me." 

Sam cocked her head to one side, "Have you done undercover work before?" 

Jack pushed his glass around the counter, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." 

"I see. Maybe you'd better keep it to yourself for now. You feeling any better now after your bath?" 

"A bit. The head still hurts a bit, but the Advil seems to be keeping the worst of it at bay." 

"Feel up to going for a walk?" 

"In this heat?" 

"We visit desert planets all the time, and you complain about this heat?" 

"Fine." Jack said, "Just let me find a bottle I can fill up with water so I can take it along with me." 

Sam was standing by the door with her sandals on, smearing sunscreen over her face when Jack finally found a bottle and came to put on his shoes. "Have I got it all rubbed in?" Sam asked pointing to her face. 

Jack looked at her face and reached over and rubbed the side of her nose, "You missed a tiny blob." 

"Thanks. Have you seen my hat?" 

"I think that it's with your bikini in the bedroom." 

Sam gaped, "My what?" 

"Your bikini. You know, that little black stringy thing." 

"I don't own a bikini." 

Jack shrugged, "Apparently you do now." 

Sam felt herself blushing again and hoped that Jack would think it was just from the heat, "I'm going to kill Janet." she muttered as she stomped towards the bedroom. 

Sure enough, Sam's hat was sitting on top of a little black bikini. Sam picked up the scraps of material and examined it - it was her size. Making a mental note to 'thank' Janet the next time she saw her, Sam grabbed the hat and went back to the door. 

Jack looked at her, smirking. "So Sam." he said, calculating his words carefully, "When do we go swimming?" 

"After I buy you a Speedo." Sam said, opening the door. 

___________ 

The warmth of the morning was quickly turning into the humid heat of the afternoon. Sam and Jack walked down the sidewalks, looking at the houses and speculating upon who might live there. 

"This is a nice area." Jack said, "At one point in time, I might have actually considered living here." 

"It's so quiet." Sam commented. "Except for the birds that is." 

Jack spotted what looked like a park up ahead and so they continued along the sidewalk, instead of turning around and heading home. The park was obviously well maintained, the playground equipment looked shiny and new and the grass was well cut and the bushes well trimmed. 

"Doesn't look like anyone ever comes here." Jack said gesturing to the gravel around the swings. "The gravel is smooth and there's no foot prints." 

"Bonnie did say that there was no children in the area." 

"But why keep this place so well maintained? Surely they have better things to spend money on." 

Sam shrugged, "I guess not. They're probably keeping this place up so that when children move back into the area, they'll have a good place to play." 

Jack walked a few yards away from Sam and looked behind a building that wasn't so well taken care of. "Looks like there used to be a pool here!" he called to Sam. "Come take a look!" 

Sam joined Jack and gazed into the shallow hole in the ground. "Couldn't have been more than a wading pool." she said. 

Jack took his bottle of water from his pocket and drank almost half of it. "This place must have been crawling with children once upon a time." he said, wiping his mouth. "You don't build a wading pool for adults." 

Sam suddenly whirled around and stared at the bushes behind them. Jack looked at her curiously. "I thought I heard something." Sam whispered. 

The bushes rustled and the two froze. Jack signalled to Sam that he was going to look in the bushes and that she was to stay put. Sam watched as Jack nudged them with his foot and then jumped back as though the bushes had bitten him. 

A mangy looking dog leapt out from the bushes, baring its teeth at the humans. The dog growled, it's thin sides trembling. "I think it's afraid of us." Sam said. 

"It looks sick. You can see her..." Jack bent over and looked under the dog, "His ribs." 

The dog continued to growl at Sam and Jack, occasionally throwing a bark in for good measure. "You think we should take him with us?" Sam asked. 

"Are you going to carry him?" 

"We can't just leave him here!" 

Jack looked at the dog and noticed something. "He has a collar on Sam, he must belong to someone. If I can look at the tag without getting bitten, we might be able to get this little fella home." 

"You think his owners would still want him? He might have rabies." 

"There's only one way to find out. Can you distract him or something?" 

Sam picked up a stick and waved it in front of the dog's face. The dog clamped its teeth down on it and Jack quickly looked at the dog's neck. Jack shook his head, "There's no tag." 

Sam threw the stick down and the dog chased after it. "So, we just leave him here?" 

"What else can we do? I don't have a cage handy, do you?" 

The dog tackled the stick and picked it up in his mouth. Sam looked over the dog and noticed that it was running back to them. "I think he wants to play fetch with you now." Jack said, with an amused expression on his face. 

The dog dropped the stick at Sam's feet and growled at her. Sam smiled at the dog and picked the stick up, keeping her hand well away from the bared teeth. The stick was covered with dog drool. Sam threw the stick over towards the swings and the dog ran after it. 

Jack wiped his brow, "I think we'd better get going. I don't want to get heat stroke." 

"You should have worn a hat." 

"I can't find it." 

"Did you pack one?" 

"Of course I did. I just can't find it." 

As the couple walked out of the park, the door to the old change house opened. A figure cautiously exited, looking around suspiciously. "Here boy!" the person called. The dog came running, stick in mouth. 

"Were those nice people playing with you?" the person asked, as though the dog were going to answer him. "Was the lady pretty? I bet she was pretty. Her voice sounded real pretty." 

The dog panted, looking eagerly from his owner to the stick and back again. "You're a good boy, you know that? You're a good boy. They wanted to take you away from me, but I won't let them." The voice was harsher sounding now. 

The dog began tugging on his owner's pants. The person kicked the dog away. "I don't have time to play right now. I have work to do." 

___________ 

A week passed. The air conditioning guys came and hooked up the machine. Jack no longer complained about the heat, instead he complained about boredom. Sam had unpacked most of the boxes and had begun to contemplate decorating the house. She had asked Bonnie about maybe purchasing one her paintings, Bonnie had told her that she'd think about it. 

No one contacted Jack about a job. Jack was considering trying in the next town over. It wasn't far, only about 15 minutes down the road. Stan invited Jack to play baseball again during that week. Jack had politely refused, saying that he had pulled a muscle while moving the sofa. Stan had nodded knowingly and left, making Jack promise that he'd come again next week. 

The General had called several times for progress reports. He told them that Janet and Daniel had received their identities and were making the final preparations for their trip. The mission was proceeding as planned. 

___________ 

"What time are they supposed to be arriving?" 

"Whenever they get here. Stop asking me that question." 

Sam exhaled slowly through her nose, "I just need to know what time so that I can have the house ready!" 

"Oh my God." Jack said and backed away, "You're turning into my mom!" 

Sam cuffed Jack lightly on the shoulder. "Why don't you brush off the patio chairs?" She handed him a damp rag. Jack took the rag and headed outside. 

Daniel and Janet were supposed to be arriving sometime today. Sam had no idea who they were going to be, the General hadn't revealed that much to them. This puzzled Sam a bit. She would have thought that the General would have fully briefed her and Jack on the situation. 

Bonnie had dropped by earlier in the day. Sam had told her that they were expecting company. She didn't want to tell Bonnie that some friends were coming by, because it might turn out that Daniel was her brother or Janet was her sister. 

Sam looked out the living room window at Stan's house. He was at work, or at least Sam assumed that's where he was. His grass was little long, he'd need to cut it soon and the weeds were coming back in. Their own lawn was full of weeds, but Sam hadn't had the time for weeding. It was looking a little brown too, she'd have to water it soon. 

"Hey Lisa!" 

"Yeah?" 

"Can you come out here for a second?" 

Sam left the window and found Jack out on the deck. He was poking at something with a stick. 

"What is that?" Sam asked, hoping that it wasn't another dead cat. 

"I think it's a squirrel." 

Sam peered at the pile of grey fur. "Probably killed by a cat." she said. "We should bury it." 

Jack stopped poking the dead animal and looked at Sam. "What's with you and burying everything?" 

"Well we can't just leave it here!" 

"I wasn't suggesting that we leave it on our deck. We could throw it out on the lawn, I'm sure something would eat it." 

Sam felt mildly ill at Jack's suggestion. "I think we should bury it. I'll get a plastic bag." 

"Hello?" called a voice that sounded like Janet's. 

"They're here." Jack said and looked at his watch, "Right on time too." 

Janet appeared at the door and stepped outside, "The door was unlocked, so we just let ourselves in." she said, "I hope you don't mind." 

Sam threw her arms around Janet, "I'm so glad you're here!" she said. 

Jack looked around, "Where's Daniel? Did you put him in your purse?" 

Janet laughed, "No, he's dragging our luggage out of the car. Is that a dead squirrel?" 

Jack nodded, "Yep, I hope you're hungry." 

Janet made a face, "I hope you're not serious." 

"Actually, we were just going to bury it." Sam said, "It must have been killed by a cat." 

"Or maybe it took a look at the colour of your house and just curled up and died." Janet suggested. 

"It's pretty terrible, isn't it?" Sam said laughing, "We're going to get it repainted." 

Jack went to help Daniel with the bags and Sam gave Janet a tour of the house. "So Janet." Sam said as she showed her where the bathroom was, "If Janet is indeed your name, we weren't told anything about your new identity. Who are you?" 

"The General didn't tell you?" 

Sam shook her head, "No, he didn't. I was kind of surprised myself." 

"My name is Raylene Goodwin, I'm your sister-in-law and Daniel is Patrick Goodwin, your brother." 

Sam nodded, "Okay, Raylene and Patrick, got it. Have fun playing a married couple." 

"How are you and Colonel O'Neill making out?" 

"It's going fine, I guess. We've had a few awkward moments, including an incident with the vacuum cleaner that I won't elaborate on." 

"The vacuum cleaner, really, that sounds kinky." 

"We bought another bed the other day, you and Daniel can share it or one of you can sleep on the floor." 

"What about the sofa? Can't one of us sleep on that?" 

Sam shook her head, "No, it's Jack's sleeping on that. And don't look so surprised Janet. You didn't think that Jack and I were going to sleep together, did you?" 

Janet shrugged. "Can I get something to drink?" 

"Yeah sure," Sam turned around the headed for the kitchen. "We have water, or there's orange juice." 

"Don't you have anything with alcohol in it?" 

"I'll get Jack to make a run to the liquor store later today." 

Sam poured herself a glass of water and handed another glass to Janet, who had asked for orange juice. Jack and Daniel soon joined them, both of them were sweating. Jack looked pointedly at Janet, "Did you pack rocks or something?" 

"No, I brought along some medical testing equipment." 

"For what?" Sam asked, taking a sip of her water. 

"The General really didn't tell you anything did he? We're going to extract the Goa'uld from this Stanley La Grupa guy." 

"Excuse me? Extract the Goa'uld? Won't that kill him?" Jack asked, looking alarmed. "You don't think that anyone will notice?" 

Janet shrugged, "That's what our orders are sir."   
  



	5. Chapter Five

There was a knock at the door and seeing as Daniel was the closest to the door, he was elected to answer it. "Just make sure to check through the peep hole before you open the door!" Sam called to him. 

Daniel peered through the small hole and then yelled out to the living room, "It's some guy with really, really white teeth. Wow, those have got to be the whitest teeth that I've ever seen." 

Jack ran over to the door, "I'll get it." he said, "It's Stan." 

Daniel's eyes widened, "As in the Goa'uld?" 

"The one and the only. We hope." 

Jack swung open the door and Stan greeted him with a hearty howdy. Jack pasted a smile on his face and greeted Stan. "Who's your friend?" Stan asked, looking over Jack's shoulder at Daniel. 

"That's Patrick. He's Lisa's brother. He and his wife are visiting for a few days." 

"Ah, I thought you two had company. I didn't recognize that green car out there." 

From behind Jack, Daniel waved. Stan grinned, "I just came over to see if you were interested in baseball, but if you've got company..." 

Jack tried to look disappointed, "Yeah, I'm real sorry about that Stan. I know I that promised last week, but this was unexpected. Patrick and Raylene just showed up the other day." 

"Or." Stan said suddenly, "Patrick here could join us! We've always got room for another guy on the team!" 

Daniel adjusted his glasses, "Oh well, actually, I don't really play. Sports aren't exactly my thing." 

Stan shrugged, "Neither does Charles! I think he caught maybe one ball the entire game." 

Jack and Daniel looked at each other as if silently communicating. Jack shrugged. Daniel shrugged back. "Sure, we'll come play." Jack said finally. 

"Ya'll can ride with me." Stan said. "No point in using more gas than we have to! You gonna be up for a beer afterward?" 

"A beer?" Daniel looked frightened. 

"We always head over to Mooney's pub after the game." Jack said. "You don't have to come, I'm sure Stan would give you a lift back here." 

"Oh no, it's alright. I'll come with you." Daniel said, hoping that his stomach was up for beer. 

"We'll just grab our jackets and then we'll meet you over at your car, okay?" 

Stan nodded, "The guys will be so happy to have another player." 

Jack watched Stan walk down the steps and then closed the door. "Why are we doing this?" Daniel asked. 

"Because, it's part of the mission." Jack replied. "We're supposed to be getting to know Stan." 

"If you say so." 

"I do." 

____________ 

Daniel and Jack went off with Stan. Sam watched them fold up into the car and drive off down the road. Janet was sitting in the rocking chair that Sam had purchased from an antique mall and was slowly rocking back and forth. 

"Last time Jack went out with him, he didn't come home until early in the morning and he was drunk. He had a hang over the next morning. Jack thought that Stan had somehow put something in his drink." 

Janet stopped rocking and stood up. "If that happens again." she said, "I'll be able to test his blood, see whether he was drugged or not." 

"You think that Stan could have drugged him?" 

"It's not like the Colonel to get drunk. He can drink like a fish. There are plenty of drugs that someone could slipped him." 

Sam ran a hand through her hair. "Stan just gives me the creeps and it's not only because he's Goa'uld." 

"Yeah I know what you mean." Janet said as she looked for the remote control. "Have you seen the remote?" 

Sam shrugged. "No, I haven't. It seems to regularly disappear. I think Jack carries it off somewhere." 

Janet stuck a hand under the cushions on the couch and felt around. "Nope, it's not here." she said looking at her hands, "But you do have melted chocolate or something stuck under the middle cushion." 

Sam sighed, "I told Jack not to eat on the couch! I'd better do something about that before he spills something on this side and decides to turn the cushion over." 

__________ 

Daniel stood at the plate, with the bat held awkwardly in his hands. The pitcher stared at him, trying to gauge whether or not Daniel was ready to hit the ball. Daniel shifted the bat in his hands and moved his feet farther apart. The pitcher wound up and threw the ball hard and fast towards Daniel. 

Daniel screamed and ducked. The ball hit the fence behind him, making a hard clanging noise. Several gales of laughter followed. The bat had been thrown several feet away from Daniel and he bent to retrieve it, feeling slightly embarrassed. Daniel hadn't been kidding when he'd said that sports weren't his thing. 

Jack was standing out in left field, aimlessly picking at the laces on his glove. The sky had clouded over again and Jack decided that rain must be a required element for these games. At least if another storm came up, the game would end. 

"Okay Patrick, let's try this again!" the man who's name may or may not be Jim called. "When the ball comes towards you, you swing the bat and hit it!" 

Daniel pushed up his glasses and got himself into position. Jack almost felt sorry Daniel. Almost. He was the very picture of the classic geek. 

"You can do it Patrick!" Jack yelled, hoping that his voice could be heard over the wind that was picking up. 

The pitcher threw the ball, not quite as hard this time. Daniel took a half-hearted swing at it and then watched as it rolled behind him. The ump picked the ball up and threw it back to the pitcher. "Strike one!" 

The wind ruffled Daniel's hair and caused his jacket sleeves to flutter. The pitcher threw the ball and this time Daniel watched as it sailed away to his right. "Wind must have caught that one!" the ump called. 

Eventually Daniel struck out and he grateful set the bat down and went to sit down on the bench. The other guys who were sitting down thumped him on the back and told him that he made a good try. Daniel looked up the sky as he noticed a drop of moisture fall onto his glasses. Some of the other guys were also looking up. 

"It's starting to rain!" Ray called. "Should we keep playing?" 

"We keep playing until the lightning comes!" someone called back. 

The game continued for a few more minutes before the low rumble of thunder was heard in the distance. "Storm's moving in!" Stan called. "Everyone help grab the equipment!" 

Jack felt relieved as he headed towards Daniel. Daniel was futilely trying to wipe his glasses off on his sleeve. "That was not fun, Charles." Daniel said grumpily. 

"Hey, it's not my fault that you screamed when the ball came towards you." Jack replied, snickering. 

"And now we get to go to a pub." 

Jack nodded. The two of them had reached Stan's car and threw their gloves in the back. Stan hopped into the driver's seat and unlocked the other doors. Jack got in the front and Daniel squeezed into the back. He purposefully dug his knees into the back of Jack's seat. 

"You smoke Patrick?" Stan asked, looking in the rearview mirror. 

Daniel shook his head, "No." 

Jack idly wondered why Stan was so curious about whether or not people smoked but then that thought quickly flew out of his mind as Stan started the old car and they drove to the pub. 

___________ 

Sam awoke the next morning and felt the bed moving. The springs creaked a bit and weight was lifted off of it. Opening her eyes, Sam saw Janet standing over her. Sam was a bit curious to know why Janet had been in bed with her but didn't know if she really wanted to know. 

"Good morning." Janet said with false cheer. "Sleep well?" 

"Yeah actually I did." Sam said, stretching her back. 

"I'm glad that someone did. You snore, did you know that?" 

"Why were you sleeping with me in the first place?" 

"I was sleeping in my own room, but then at some ungodly hour of the morning, Daniel came home and threw himself on the bed. I think he bruised my arm." Janet held out her arm for inspection. There was indeed a slight bruise on it. 

"I was going to sleep in the living room because Daniel smelled so terrible." Janet continued, "But Colonel O'Neill was passed out on the couch. That left here, with you. You sound like a rusty chainsaw." 

Sam wasn't sure whether or not take offence at that but nodded sympathetically at Janet. "Are you going to test their blood?" 

A slight smile played across Janet's lips, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna test their blood." 

"Nicely Janet. Test their blood nicely. That means no using the biggest needle you can find and no just jamming it in." 

Janet ran a hand through her tousled hair, "I'm a doctor Sam, I don't usually hurt my patients on purpose." 

Sam threw the covers back and got up from the bed. She grabbed some clothes from the drawers, "I'm going to take a shower." she said. "Why don't you get some coffee going?" 

Janet watched Sam's retreating form and rubbed her eyes. She had a headache, and it was only 8:30. Deciding that she needed to get dressed, Janet headed for her room and hoped that Daniel was still unconscious. She pushed the door open a crack and peered in. Daniel was sprawled out on his back, his snores rivalling those of Sam's. 

The floor creaked softly as Janet tip-toed in. Daniel moved slightly but didn't wake up. Janet noticed a trickle of drool running down his cheek. Oh, she thought, now that's real charming Doctor Jackson. Her suitcase was lying on the floor, thankfully unzipped. Janet crept over to it and began pulling out her clothes. 

Janet decided against changing in the same room as Daniel and deciding that changing in Sam's room was a better idea. She was in the shower, and even if she weren't, it wouldn't matter. Closing the door, Janet threw the clothes on the bed. She pulled her nightgown over her head and tossed it onto the floor. Through the wall she could hear Sam singing tunelessly in the shower. Janet cringed. 

Meanwhile, Jack had woken up on the couch with a pounding headache. His knees, back, shoulders, wrists, ankles and pretty much every other part of his body protested as he tried to stand up. Jack wondered if Daniel was doing any better than he was. He could hear water running in the bathroom and groaned. Getting to the precious Advil would be impossible if the person showering had locked the door. 

His ankles cracked as Jack made his way down the hall towards the bathroom. He tried the bathroom door and found it locked. His head was throbbing, making his eyes hurt. He knew that Sam kept a small bottle of pain killers in her purse and he thought about where her purse might be. It was probably in their room, but that door was closed too. 

Jack rubbed his eyes and decided that it must be Sam in the bedroom and Janet in the shower. No problem, he thought, I'll just go into the room and ask Sam to give me some of that stuff from her purse. 

It really was unfortunate the bedroom doors don't have locks on them. Janet watched in horror as the knob on the door began to turn. She frantically reached around the bed, searching for her bra. The door opened and Jack limped into the room. 

"Sam..." he started and then looked at Janet. 

Janet screamed and grabbed the sheet from the bed and tried to wrap it around her top. "Don't you ever knock!?" she yelled at Jack. 

Jack stared at Janet, "Why are you in here?" 

"I'm getting dressed, do you mind?" 

Jack felt his headache getting worse, Janet's scream had done nothing but aggravate it. He backed out of the room, his mind not quite comprehending what he had seen. He shut the door behind him and went back to the couch. The room seemed to be spinning and Jack watched as the couch grew closer and closer. 

___________ 

"Was that you I heard scream?" Sam asked Janet once she had emerged from the bathroom. 

"Yes. Your dearly beloved decided to walk in on me without knocking." 

Sam fought to keep a straight face, clearly Janet was not amused. "Were you naked?" 

"I had pants on, but nothing on top." 

"Oh well, that's not so bad then." 

"I think he was looking for you." Janet said, "Does he always walk in without asking?" 

Sam shook her head, "No he's usually pretty good about knocking. Maybe he's too hung over to think straight." 

"He did look a little out of it." Janet said. 

"Or he could have been trying to get me back for the vacuum cleaner..." Sam's voice trailed off. 

Janet looked curiously at her friend, "What exactly happened with the vacuum cleaner? That's the second time you've mentioned it." 

"Oh, it's nothing really." Sam said, trying to brush it off. 

"Nothing really? Come on Sam, I promise I won't tell anyone else." 

Sam sighed and proceeded to tell Janet the story. Janet burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she fell down on the bed. "You sucked...up..his towel?!?" she said in between bursts of laughter. 

"That's not the worst part." Sam said. "My friend Bonnie was standing the front yard watching it all." 

Janet kept laughing and Sam wondered if she'd need to call 911. Sam tugged on Janet's shirt, "Come on Janet." she said, "It's not that funny and besides, we'd better see what our guys are up to." 

Janet stood up, struggling to keep a straight face everytime to looked at Sam. The two walked down the hall and into the living room. Janet quickly sobered up when she saw Jack slumped over on the couch. She ran up to him and assessed him, checking his airway and pulse. 

"His breathing and pulse are both strong." Janet said, feeling relieved, "I think he's just unconscious." 

"Can we wake him up?" Sam asked. 

"Probably." Janet replied, "But I'm going to get my equipment. Knowing the Colonel it might be easier to draw blood while he's like this. I'll check on Daniel while I'm in the room." 

Sam nodded and sat down in the chair across the couch. Jack's neck was bent at an awkward angle, Sam didn't envy the cramp he'd have in it when he woke up. A few minutes later Janet came back with a black bag in hand. "Daniel's in pretty much the same state." she reported. "I shook him a few times, he stirred but didn't wake up." 

Janet took a needle from the bag and prepped it to draw blood. She went over to Jack, swabbed his arm and then went ahead with the procedure. Sam winced as the needle pierced the skin. Jack didn't even move. "I got a sample from Daniel while I was in there." Janet said, as she withdrew the needle. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours to get the results of the tox screen." 

"What are you expecting to find?" Sam asked. 

Janet shook her head, "I wish I knew." 

___________ 

The day had broken clear and sunny, the storm of the previous evening nothing but a faint memory. Sam sat outside on the deck sipping at a strawberry-banana smoothie. Janet was inside running her tests and the guys were still zonked out. Sam had been a little concerned about their health, but Janet had assured her that they were fine. They were simply sleeping off the effects of the alcohol or whatever drug had been used to poison them. 

A small brown bird landed on the railing about three feet away from Sam. It hopped around, occasionally pecking at something. Sam watched the tiny bird, marvelling at how something so small could exist. She'd been meaning to get a bird feeder set up out here. A hummingbird feeder would be especially nice. Sam adored hummingbirds. 

The door slid open and Janet stepped outside, a glass in her hand. "Thanks for making me one too." Janet said. 

Sam nodded, "No problem. Did you get the tests done?" 

"I've got them running. I won't know the results for at least another thirty minutes. It's so nice out today." 

"It's not too humid for a change." 

"Ah, that must be it. I hate feeling sticky all day." 

Janet had scared the bird away when she came out, but now the bird was back, pecking at the rail again. "You must have something tasty on your railing." Janet said to Sam, gesturing towards the bird. 

"Probably a rotten spot there or something. I'd imagine that it would be full of small insects." 

"You mentioned something about a Bonnie earlier today." Janet said. "Who is she?" 

"She lives down the street. She shows up occasionally. I'm actually surprised that she hasn't come over to meet you." 

"She knew we were coming?" 

"I told her that we were expecting company." 

"I heard the Colonel tell Stan last night that you weren't expecting us." 

Sam shrugged, "I doubt that those two are going to be comparing stories." 

Janet waved a few flies away from her face, "There's sure a lot of flies out today." 

"I think I ate one earlier." 

"Well that's lovely. Is there always so many out?" 

"Not usually. Maybe something else died." Sam said. 

"You get a lot of dead animals?" 

"There was a dead cat in the house when we moved in and then there was that squirrel that you saw when you arrived." 

Janet stood up and went over to the railing. She looked over and down onto the grass. "Uh Sam? Have you looked down here yet today?" 

"No, why?" 

"Because I think you have another casualty." 

Sam groaned and stood up. "Oh my God." she said, looking over the railing. "I know that dog!" 

Sam went into the house and grabbed a garbage bag and latex gloves. Then she and Janet went down to the yard and Janet gave the dog a cursory examination. "It looks like it may have starved to death. You said you know this dog?" 

Sam nodded, "Yes, Jack and I saw it when we were at a park just a couple of blocks away from here. It wasn't very friendly, but it did want to play fetch. We knew that it was probably sick, but there was no way that we could take it home with us." 

Janet stood up and started walking towards the steps. "Where are you going?" Sam asked. 

"I'm going to draw some blood from this dog. I want to know why it died." 

"You said that it probably starved to death." 

"Look around Sam." Janet said. "What do you see? Birds, squirrels, insects. I don't know how this dog could have starved." 

Sam sat next to the dog and stroked the fur on its head. The poor dog didn't deserve to die anymore than that cat or the squirrel had. Things were getting very strange indeed.   
  



	6. Chapter Six

_My apologies to anyone reading that this part took so long to get done. Real life reared its ugly head and kept me away from the keyboard for the better part of the last two weeks.  
I did, however, get the opportunity to meet the fabulous Colin Cunningham, Amanda Tapping and JR Bourne. I'm going to dedicate this story to them!_   
  


Jack slowly lifted his head off the couch cushion. His eyes hurt, his ears hurt, his arms hurt, even his nostrils felt a little out of sorts. He wondered for a moment why he seemed to have been sleeping slumped over when he clearly, well maybe not so clearly, remembered laying down on the couch when he and Daniel arrived home last night. He thought about that for a moment and a mental picture of Janet came to mind. It disturbed Jack a bit that in this mental picture, Janet was topless. 

Meanwhile in a bedroom, Daniel rolled over and fell off the bed. He opened his eyes and got a larger than life view of the carpet. Daniel's head was throbbing and he tried to push himself off the floor and crawl back onto the bed. He groaned and stood up, swaying from side to side. 

Sam and Janet had loaded up the dog into a garbage bag and had dragged in into the house. Janet saw Jack coming to life on the couch and went over to him, leaving Sam to contend with the bag. Jack was sitting on the couch, with his head buried in his hands. At the sound of Janet's voice, Jack peered through his fingers at her. Everytime he looked at her, he saw her topless. He sincerely hoped that he hadn't done anything inappropriate in his drunken state. Although Jack liked to think that if he'd ravished anyone, it was Sam. 

"Colonel O'Neill? How are you feeling?" Janet asked, her voice filled with concern. 

"Like I got run over by a cement truck." replied Jack, his voice cracking. 

"I've taken a sample of yours and Daniel's blood. I'm running some tests on them right now. We're going to find out what happened to you sir." 

"I need a bath." Jack said and then he tried to stand up. He swayed a bit and Janet reached out to steady him. Jack looked over in Sam's direction. Sam was standing with the bag at her feet. 

"What's in the bag Sam?" Jack asked, hoping that she and Janet hadn't killed anyone. 

"A dead dog. You remember that dog we saw at the park? Well, it's dead now." 

"Weird." Jack said and headed down the hall towards the bathroom, something he distinctly remembered already doing that day. 

Janet watched Jack leave and turned to Sam. "I don't think he recalls walking in on me earlier." 

Sam raised her eyebrows, "That's probably for the best." 

"I wonder if Daniel's awake as well." 

As if in response to Janet's question, a muffled thud was heard from the direction of the bedroom. 

"I'll take that as a yes." Janet said. "I"d better go check on him too." 

Sam nudged the garbage bag with her foot, "What did you want to do with this?" 

"Oh, can you take it downstairs? Depending on how the test results look, I may want to examine the body." 

Sam shuddered at the thought of Janet doing an autopsy on the dog in her basement, but took the bag downstairs anyway. 

___________ 

"Oh my God, this is unbelievable!" shrieked Janet. 

"What is?" Sam asked, yelling down the steps. 

"The results of the tox screen! Come down here." 

Sam glanced at Janet and Daniel, who were both picking at cereal at the table and went downstairs. Janet was standing in front of a table covered with various machines. 

"Come here and take a look at this print out." Janet said, waving a piece of paper. 

Sam took the paper and read through it. Most of it looked like mumbo jumbo to her, but her eyes caught the word naquada. 

"Those are the results of the tests I did on the dog's blood." 

"There was naquada in the dog's blood?" Sam asked incredulously. 

"Trace amounts of it." 

"What does that mean?" 

"Well, it could mean that the dog was injected with some sort of naquada compound, or it could mean that this dog once carried a symbiont." 

Sam's eyes widened, "A Goa'uld?" 

"There's no way to know for sure, but if it did..." 

Janet picked up another sheet of paper, "These are the results of the Colonel's tox screen. There is still alcohol in his bloodstream, but not lethal levels of it. There also appears to be some sort of other compound. I don't know what it is though. Daniel's shows the same thing." 

Sam was still thinking about the naquada in the dog's blood. "What if there is someone out there, putting Goa'ulds into animals?" 

"I'm not sure what they would be trying to accomplish." Janet said, "I was under the impression that a Goa'uld required a host capable of higher level brain functions." 

"But think about Janet. We could have animals that ruthlessly attack people. Maybe the Goa'ulds could even make an animal more intelligent." 

Janet shrugged, "I suppose that's possible, but it still doesn't make sense to me." 

"Someone is trying to engineer a Goa'uld that can easily infiltrate human lives." 

Janet set the papers down on the table and took the one away from Sam. "I find that to be a little far-fetched. I think it's much more plausible that there is a rogue Goa'uld out there, performing experiments on the population of Earth's animals, not necessarily trying to implant a Goa'uld into them, but maybe just seeing how they react." 

Sam sighed, "Either way, we have to find out who's doing this. Someone must have access to Goa'uld larvae." 

"It could be Stan." 

"Or it could be someone working with Stan." 

Upstairs the doorbell rang. "It's probably Bonnie." Sam said and started upstairs. 

___________ 

"Hi Lisa!" Bonnie said brightly. 

"Bonnie." Sam said with a smile. 

"I know you said that you were having company, but I just thought I'd drop by and say hi. I'd like to meet your visitors too, if they're here." 

Sam looked behind her and spied Janet lurking behind a corner. She waved her over. "Yes, they're here. This is my sister-in-law Raylene." 

Janet stood beside Sam and held out her hand, Bonnie took it and shook it. "Nice to meet you Raylene. I'm Bonnie, I live down the street a bit." 

"Lisa's told me about you." Janet said with a smile. "I'd love for you to meet my husband, Patrick, but he and Charles had a bit of a late night last night. They're not feeling very well I'm afraid." 

"Out with Stan were they?" Bonnie asked. 

Sam nodded, "Yes, I don't think Stan's being a very good influence on Charles." 

"Stan's a good guy." Bonnie said, "He just likes to have fun every once in a while. Has Charles had any luck with a job yet?" 

"I'm afraid not. It seems that no one is hiring." 

"Where is it you're from Raylene?" Bonnie asked, gazing at Janet. 

"Patrick and I live in Colorado." 

"Oh, so you've come quite a distance then." 

Janet smiled, "Patrick really missed his sister. We both had some time off work coming up, so we decided to pay Lisa and Charles a visit, see how they were making out with their new lives." 

"Well that's nice of you. Family is the most important thing in the world after all." 

Sam shifted from foot to foot, "I'd invite you in Bonnie, but like Raylene said, Patrick and Charles had a late night." 

"Oh that's no problem!" exclaimed Bonnie, "I just came by to say hi. I actually have to be going to work. It was nice to meet you Raylene." 

"Nice to meet you to." 

"I'll come by some other time when you're not so busy Lisa. We'll do coffee." 

Sam smiled and nodded. Bonnie waved and backed down the steps. Sam closed the door and turned to Janet. Janet shrugged, "She seems nice." 

Sam nodded, "She is. She lives in a strange neighbourhood, but I think she's normal." 

"Seems fairly normal to me. Where does she work, do you know?" 

"Ah, I think she might have said that she was a teller at the bank." 

"She seems perky enough to be a teller. I was thinking that maybe she was a waitress." 

"I'm pretty sure she said she worked at the bank." 

"Can you take me to the park where you said you saw that dog?" Janet asked, looking hopeful. 

"Yeah sure. I think we'd better just check on the guys before we leave. Make sure they haven't passed out in their cornflakes or anything." 

__________ 

"This is the place." Sam said, looking at the empty pool and the run down change house. 

"So the dog was in the bushes?" 

Sam nodded, "It was in the bushes and it jumped out at us." 

Janet pulled through the bushes for a while before finding nothing and standing up again. She went over to the change house and pulled at the door. "Must be locked." she said. 

"You said that there's no children in this neighbourhood?" 

"That's what Bonnie told me." 

"Strange. There is so rarely a neighbourhood anywhere with no children. Especially one like this that appears to be custom made for families. Why else would there be a playground?" 

"Fun for the old folks?" Sam said wryly. 

"I think the slide might be a little rough on the catheter." 

Janet pulled at the change house door again, this time kicking it a bit for good measure. Sam joined in and gave it a half-hearted kick. 

"Well, I don't see anything around here that resembles Goa'uld larvae." Janet said, "Guess we should just go home. Unless you wanted to have a go on the tire swing?" 

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Sam replied. 

Sam and Janet began heading back across the grass. Once they reached the road, the change house door opened a crack and a nose appeared from behind it. 

The man in the change house wondered which one of the women had the nerve to actually bang on the door. He decided that it have been the little one. The little ones were always the feisty ones. He knew that they were looking for what he had. They knew more than it was anticipated than anyone knew. Apparently his sources had done a poor job of researching the human threat.   
  



	7. Chapter Seven

Janet put down the phone, a frown creased her face. "That was the General." she said, with a small amount of disdain in her voice. "He's ordering Daniel and I back to the base." 

"What? He can't do that! We need you here!" Sam cried. 

"I guess they couldn't survive another a couple of days without their chief medical officer or archaeologist/anthropologist/linguist, or whatever the hell Daniel is these days." Janet said, putting her hands on her hips. "I can't disobey a direct order Sam." 

"Doesn't he know what we're possibly up against here?" 

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he walked into the room, carrying a large clay something. 

"Janet and Daniel have been recalled, and what is that in your arms?" 

"It's a flower pot, you know, for planting flowers in? I found it on sale at the market, I thought you might like it." Jack said, trying to sound nonchalant about buying Sam a gift. "Now what's this about being recalled?" he said, addressing Janet. 

Janet glared at the phone, as though it had something to do with the whole situation. "I just got off the phone with the General. Apparently they're in dire need of Daniel and I back at the base." 

Jack set the flower pot down on the counter. "Is he nuts? I realize he's getting up there in years, but I didn't think he'd gone senile yet. We need backup here. Sam and I can't do this alone." 

Janet sighed, "I have a feeling that his orders came from higher up." 

"So he's just going to leave Sam and I alone with at least one confirmed Goa'uld and another person who is possibly trying to implant Goa'ulds into animals? If Stan or his pal find out who we really are, or how much we know; we're as good as dead." 

"I can't change the orders sir, I wish I could. If you want to quibble with someone, here's the phone. Call the General." Janet said, handing the receiver to Jack. 

Sam was examining the flower pot. She scratched at the clay with her fingernail and watched as tiny fragments of it tumbled down onto the counter. They collected to form a small red pile of dust. Sam blew the pile into oblivion. 

"Any idea where Daniel is?" Janet asked, "I'd better give him the news and tell him to start packing." 

"I told him to weed the garden." Sam replied. "He was bothering me, so I sent him outside. He should be out back." 

Janet left the house through the sliding door leaving Sam and Jack alone. "Thanks for the pot." Sam said, gesturing to the clay object. "It's perfect for those flowers I bought the other day." 

Jack grinned. "That's what I was thinking of when I bought it. You had mentioned that you needed a pot, and when I saw this one..." 

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Sam asked then exhaled loudly through her nose. 

"Plant some flowers? Or were you talking about the Goa'uld situation?" 

"I was talking about the Goa'uld situation. The General had been updated on what Janet found, it doesn't make sense for him to pull Janet and Daniel out." 

"Like the doc said, I think his orders came from higher up." 

"So the President wants just the two of us here? That doesn't make sense either. Do you suppose that the NID have anything to do with this?" 

"Could be, I wouldn't put anything past those bastards." Jack said disdainfully. Even the slightest mention of the NID left a bad taste in Jack's mouth. 

The door slid open and Janet walked in, followed by a dirt smeared Daniel. "I can't believe that the General would do anything so stupid!" Daniel said angrily, the straw hat on his head bobbing. 

"Nice war paint Danny." Jack said. "What happened to you? Get attacked by the spade?" 

Daniel scowled. "I'll have you know that weeding a garden is a lot harder than it looks." 

"Maybe you should take a shower and then pack." Janet suggested lightly. "I have to pack up all my equipment that's in basement." 

Daniel scowled at Jack one more time before turning on his heels and marching down the hall. Sam watched the dirty footprints appear on the carpet and winced. Janet headed down the steps to the basement saying that she'd yell if she needed any help. 

"I think we'd better see about renting one of those carpet cleaner things at the store the next time we're there." Sam said. 

"I think that might be a good idea." replied Jack. 

____________ 

Sam and Jack waved farewell to Janet and Daniel as they sped off down the road. Across the street, Stan had also watched the couple leave as he trimmed his hedges. Jack noticed Stan and waved hello to him. Stan flashed a blinding smile and waved back. 

"You up for baseball tonight neighbour?" called Stan, waving around his hedge clippers. 

Jack pretended to take a few swings with a bat and clutched his arm in mock pain. "Not sure Stan. Lisa's been working me hard in the garden!" 

Sam cuffed Jack on the shoulder. "Put some ice on it." Stan called back. "It'll be as good as new!" 

"Today isn't the usual baseball night!" Jack yelled. 

"A few of the guys can't make it for the usual, we've had to reschedule it and tonight's the lucky night." 

Jack recalled how terrible he felt after the last baseball night, which wasn't that long ago. He could always skip out on the trip to the pub. "Yeah okay, sounds good to me. I'll have to skip the pub though." 

"Aw come on Charles. That's the whole point of playing baseball!" Stan called, the sun reflecting off his teeth. 

Jack shook his head, pretending to be sorry. "I've got a big day planned for tomorrow. I can't be stayin' out late and drinking again!" 

Sam raised her eyebrows. She knew nothing of any big plans for tomorrow. "Well, alright Charles." Stan said, snipping a large branch. "You can drive yourself over to the field tonight. You should know the way by now." 

Jack nodded, "I'll be there." 

Wrapping his arm around Sam's shoulders, Jack led her back into the house. "I don't think I could handle another hang over." he said to Sam once the door was closed. "I have some disturbing memories from the last time." 

Sam tried to hide her grin. "What kind of memories?" 

Jack felt his face grow warm. He coughed. "Let's just say they're kind of personal." 

"Do they involve Janet at all?" 

Jack's eyes widened. He gaped at Sam. "She told you?" 

"She didn't think you'd remember doing anything. You were pretty out of it." 

"Great." Jack said. "I walk in on her while she'd getting dressed once and she tells the whole world." 

"I hardly think that I constitute the whole world." Sam said. "I haven't told anyone else." 

"So Daniel doesn't know?" 

"Not unless Janet told him." 

"Good, because he'd kick my ass if he knew." 

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Daniel would kick your ass? Somehow I'm not seeing that happening." 

"Let's just say that Daniel feels a bit protective of the good doctor." 

Sam scratched a mosquito bite on her arm. "Daniel likes Janet?" 

Jack shrugged. "I'm sworn to secrecy." 

"Do we have any calamine lotion?" Sam asked, as she found another mosquito bite near her ankle. "I think that the mosquitoes must have tried to eat me alive." 

"They must have found you particularly tasty. " Jack said rather smugly. "I don't have any bites." 

"That's because they were all feasting over at the all-you-can-eat Sam." 

Jack gave Sam smug grin and went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of juice. The sweltering weather had prevailed for much of the time they had been here. According to the weather service though, a storm front was supposed to move into the area later in the week, bringing with it heavy rains and winds. The grass in the front lawn was turning brown from lack of water and Sam's garden was barely surviving. Aside from the rain that had come during the baseball games, there had been constant sunshine. 

"You think we should put the sprinkler on the lawn?" Sam called to Jack, gazing out at the fried grass. 

"And run through with our gym shorts on?" Jack called back. 

"What?" Sam yelled, feeling slightly confused. She wondered why Jack wanted to run through the sprinkler. 

"It's from a song." Jack said laughing a bit. "It's by the Barenaked Ladies. It's called 'Pinch Me'." 

"Sounds like a painful song. Seriously, should we put the sprinkler on? Is it our day to water?" 

Jack wandered into the living room, with a large glass of orange juice in his hand. "It is looking sort of pitiful. Maybe we should give it some water. Look, Stan's got his sprinkler on." 

"How does he get his lawn to stay so green?" Sam asked, with not the least bit of jealousy. 

"Want me to ask him?" 

"No, not really. That was more of a rhetorical question. I'm going to get the sprinkler." 

Sam disappeared out the sliding door and went to rummage through the garden shed. The shed was a small dusty aluminum sided building. Inside were a few shovels, hoes and other assorted garden tools. The sprinkler was on the floor beside an empty garbage can. Sam picked it up and carried it around to the front of the house. 

The hose was laying coiled up beside the front steps. Sam hooked the sprinkler up to it and set it in the middle of the lawn. She then went over to the tap and turned the knob. Water rose from the sprinkler and began to wave in the air. Feeling a sudden childish urge over take her, Sam went over to the sprinkler and stuck her foot in the spray. 

The water was warm as it had been sitting in the hose for days. Sam smiled and stuck her hand in. From the living room window, Jack watched Sam's face blossom into a huge grin as she put her other foot into the spray. Jack snuck a glance across the street at Stan and saw that he too was watching Sam. 

"Pervert." Jack muttered under his breath. "Don't look at my wife like that." 

Sam had now progressed to leaping through the sprinkler, not caring if her clothes got wet. She had spent three weeks now being someone she wasn't. Three weeks living across the street from a Goa'uld. Three weeks pretending that she wasn't enjoying being married to Jack. If she wanted to run through the sprinkler, she'd damn well run through the sprinkler. With her gym shorts on. 

____________ 

"Bonnie's invited us over for supper." 

"At her place?" Jack asked fearfully. He still couldn't look at Bonnie without blushing. He hoped that she'd forgotten about what she saw through the living room window. 

Sam nodded. "She's invited some of her other friends from work too. She thinks that it will be a good way for us to meet some new people." 

"Fantastic." Jack said, with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. "And when is this dinner party taking place?" 

"Tomorrow night. I'm bringing a salad." 

"It's nice that the temperature has cooled down somewhat." Jack said, hoping to change the subject. "Although it's too chilly to run through the sprinkler now." 

"Would you let that go already?" Sam said peevishly. "What were you doing watching me anyway?" 

"For the hundredth time, I wasn't watching you. I was watching Stan and I happened to catch you frolicking out of the corner of my eye." 

"I wasn't frolicking." 

"Whatever. So, what salad are you bringing?" Jack said, changing the subject again. 

"I was thinking of doing a three bean salad." 

"I don't like three bean salad." 

"I know." 

"Oh." Jack muttered. He made a mental to himself to pick some flowers for Sam the next time he was out. A very large, expensive bouquet of flowers. Maybe some roses. Sam liked roses. 

____________ 

Sam adjusted Jack's shirt collar as he rang the doorbell. "Would you stop pulling around at my collar?" Jack asked with exasperation. Sam had already fixed his collar twenty times since they'd left the house. 

"It's still crooked." 

"So?" 

Sam opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by the door opening. Bonnie smiled at the two of them. "Come on in. Everyone else is already here. You can put your jackets over there and then we'll do the introductions." 

Sam handed Bonnie a bowl. "I brought the salad. It's a three bean salad, I hope that's alright." 

"I love three bean salad!" 

Sam smirked at Jack. Jack scowled. The roses covering the dining room table hadn't been enough to discourage Sam from making her bean salad. 

After discarding their jackets, Bonnie led them into her living room. There were three other couples sitting on the couch and in chairs. 

"Everyone." Bonnie began. "I'd like you to meet Lisa and Charles Callaghan. They live just down the street. They moved in about a month ago." 

Everyone nodded and smiled at Sam and Jack. Jack adjusted his collar and smiled back. 

Bonnie gestured to a plump brown haired woman sitting in an easy chair. "This is Rosalind, she's a bank teller, like myself. And this is her husband, Ben." Rosalind and Ben smiled and Rosalind waved. 

Next Bonnie pointed to a nervous looking red haired woman sitting beside a burly man on the couch. "This is Caitlin and her husband James. Caitlin is a loan officer." 

"And finally." Bonnie continued. "Here is Theo and his wife Corene. Theo is our market analysis guy." 

Sam and Jack exchanged hellos with all the couples. "Well now." Bonnie said happily. "Now that everyone's here, let's eat! The plates are on the counter, help yourself to whatever you would like and feel free in the living room!" 

People began moving towards the kitchen area. "This was a bad idea." Jack whispered to Sam. 

"Why?" Sam whispered back. 

"It just was. I don't like socializing." 

"I know you don't, but we have to do this, Charles. So come on, let's get some food." 

Sam and Jack loaded their plates with chicken, rice, pasta and Sam took some salad. They ate in the living room where Sam got to know Rosalind while Jack exchanged sports comments with Theo. The evening passed without incident and soon the two were retrieving their jackets and bidding a farewell to Bonnie and her friends. 

The night air was crisp and the clouds were hanging low. Sam and Jack walked down the deserted sidewalk, their footsteps echoing off the houses. Some of the houses had lights on in the windows, but only Stan's had the front light shining. 

"That was a nice evening." Sam said quietly, afraid to shatter the silence. 

Jack nodded. "It was okay." 

"You and Theo seemed to be getting along well." 

"He's a good guy. Reminded me of some people I once served with." 

"Certainly is chilly out." Sam commented, hugging herself. 

Jack slung an arm around Sam and pulled her closer to him. "We're going to have to get the heavier blankets out tonight." 

They reached their house and walked up the steps. Jack dug the key out from his pocket and unlocked the door. They stepped inside and Jack shut the door. Inside, it was warm. The scent of roses hung in the air. Sam chuckled softly, remembering Jack coming through the door with his arms loaded up with roses for her. It was his way of saying sorry for teasing her about the sprinkler. 

Jack yawned. Sam glanced at the clock on the stereo. "It's pretty late." she said. "You can go to bed if you want. I'm going to stay up for a while yet." 

Jack nodded. "Are the blankets in the linen closet?" 

"Yes, they should be there." 

"Goodnight." Jack said to Sam before heading down the hall. Sam heard him stop at the closet, the door creaking softly as he opened it. The blanket was thrown on the bed and Jack went into the washroom. 

Sam sat down on the sofa and pulled a plaid blanket over her shoulders. She reached for the remote beside her on the end table and the tv flickered to life. It was on TSN, a baseball game was in the last inning. Sam turned the volume down and flipped channels until she found a movie to watch. 

Jack finished in the washroom and went into his room. Sam had the master bedroom and he got the guest room. He took off his shirt and hung it up in the closet. His pants were tossed to the floor. A t-shirt was taken from his drawer and put on. Jack thought about wearing his pyjama pants but decided this his boxers would do. He spread the blanket over the bed and turned off the light. Jack got into bed and pulled up the covers. 

__________ 

Sam woke up and worked the kinks from her neck. Her movie had long since ended. The television was now showing an old black and white sitcom that Sam didn't recognize. She shivered realizing that her blanket had fallen to the floor. She rubbed her eyes and flicked the tv off. 

The room was dark save for a faint light coming through the curtains. Sam got off the sofa and opened the curtains a crack. A black car was parked in front of Stan's house, the same black BMW that she had seen weeks ago. There was no one in sight so Sam let the curtains fall back into place and padded down the hall to the bathroom. 

After washing her face, brushing her teeth and using the toilet, Sam exited the washroom. She started for the linen closet but paused at the doorway to Jack's room. She could hear him snoring softly. Sam smiled and continued to the closet. It creaked as she opened it and took out a blanket. Her pyjamas were still lying on her bed and Sam picked them up and put them on. 

Sam tossed the blanket over the bed and made sure that it went down to the bottom. She pulled the covers back and laid down in the cold bed. She thought about Jack, snoring softly. He was alone too. In his cold bed. Sam threw the covers back and sat up. 

Carrying only a pillow Sam pushed open the door to Jack's room. She slipped into the bed, careful not to wake him. Jack shifted slightly. Sam put the pillow behind her head and closed her eyes. Jack shifted again and threw an around her, pulling her towards him.   
  



	8. Chapter Eight

"You want me to do what?" 

"You must know that your neighbours, Lisa and Charles Callaghan aren't exactly who they say they are." 

"I know that they are special. I've been trying to protect them." 

"We understand that, but you must try to understand what's at stake here." 

Stan shifted uneasily. The two men wanted him to do the unthinkable. "I can't do that. I'm sorry." 

"Then we will have someone else do it for us. I'm only sorry that you won't co-operate." 

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." 

____________ 

Jack rolled over and stared at the blonde hair peaking out from under the sheet. He figured that he'd been dreaming when he felt someone beside him. The head attached to the hair moved on the pillow and Sam curled up into a tighter ball. 

Wanting to avoid what would surely be an awkward confrontation, Jack get out of bed carefully and headed for the bathroom. He started running the water to warm it up for his shower and found himself humming. As he laid down the bath mat Jack found himself singing. _"I'm walkin' on sunshine...whoa oh"_ Jack stepped into the shower, closed the curtain and wondered why he was singing a song that he hated with a passion. 

Sam woke up to an empty bed and the sound of running water combined with some other noise. It may or may not have been Jack singing. She sat up and grabbed her pillow. Maybe Jack hadn't noticed that she was in the bed. Maybe he just woke up and stumbled into the bathroom. Sam mentally kicked herself for the decision she made the previous night and stood up. She tried to smooth down the sheets on her side of the bed and moved Jack's pillow into the middle. 

_"And don't it feel good Hey! All Right Now!"_ Jack rinsed the shampoo from his hair and reached for the soap. It slipped out of his grasp and scuttled across the tub floor. Jack began the chorus one more time and bent down to retrieve the soap. The soap smelled nice Jack realized. It smelled like green apple. 

Sam picked at her hair, wondering if she could get away without a shower today. She picked up her brush and ran it through the short strands. Most of them fell neatly back into place. Good enough, Sam thought and set about getting dressed. 

Jack whistled as he dried himself off and tied the towel around his waist. He listened carefully and was relieved not to hear the vacuum cleaner. He was still a bit paranoid about wearing just towels. The door was slightly ajar so Jack pushed it open and went to his room. The bed barely looked slept in. Sam was gone, as was her pillow. The sheets were straightened and his pillow, for some inexplicable reason, had been placed in the middle of the bed. Jack shrugged and pulled a pair of shorts off the floor. He sniffed them and deemed them alright for another day's wear. 

___________ 

"Mornin' Sam." Jack said cheerfully as he strolled into the kitchen. 

Sam kept her back towards him but he heard a mumble that could have been a greeting. Jack threw open the fridge and critically examined the contents. He pulled the orange juice and milk out and set them on the counter. "Certainly not a very pretty day today, is it." Jack said conversationally. 

Sam mumbled again and kept staring down at her bowl of cornflakes that was quickly turning to mush. 

"I guess we're staying inside today. Maybe we could finally do something about those boxes that are piling up in the basement?" 

"Whatever." 

"You okay Sam?" 

"Fine." she replied, poking at a blueberry with her spoon. 

"Look Sam, if this is about last night. Don't worry about it." 

"I was cold." 

Jack located his cornpops and dumped some into a bowl. "It was chilly, didn't you find a blanket?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh." Jack poured the milk over the cereal and looked around for the sugar. Sam had no doubt tried to hide it on him again. 

"It was stupid sir. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry." 

Jack winced as she called him sir. His good mood was quickly evaporating. "You slept in my bed Sam, I wouldn't call that stupid. We've slept together before." 

"Not like that." 

"Oh? Did I miss out on something? Did you seduce me in my sleep?" 

Sam almost laughed. Almost. "No, I most certainly did not." 

Jack shrugged. "So, what's the problem?" 

Sam turned around and looked at him. "There isn't one." 

"That's what I like to hear Major. That's what I like to hear. Now about those boxes?" 

"What are we supposed to do with them?" 

"Empty them. Flatten them. Stack them." 

Sam allowed herself a slight smile and scooped some her cornflake blueberry mush from the bowl. Jack found the sugar in the cupboard with the vinegar and oil and sprinkled a generous amount into his bowl. Sam began thinking of new and better hiding places for the sugar. 

____________ 

Stan sat in his spartan living room. He replayed his conversation with the men in his head. He'd done it a thousand times already. Across the street, he saw the pink house, with the blue car out front. Lisa and Charles, or whatever their real names might be, hadn't made an appearance either outside or in the window yet. 

He had been told that they were coming and that he was to protect him. He knew they were here for him, but he also knew that they had uncovered the much more sinister plot. He saw the other man and woman leave, he wondered who had told them to go. 

Stan felt a strong connection to Lisa. He felt as though he should know who she was. Something about her seemed so familiar. Stan sighed and kept staring out the window. 

__________ 

It was getting late. The boxes had been emptied, folded and flattened. Sam and Jack were sitting on the sofa, Sam had a pad of paper on her lap. 

"Okay so basically this is what we know." she said, consulting the pad. "Stan is a Goa'uld of some variety. He gets late night visitors from men in a black BMW." 

"They're the men-in-black." interrupted Jack. 

"Fine, Stan gets visits from MIB's. We know that somehow a dog died with naquada in its blood. The naquada could have been either A, injected into its blood, or B, appeared there as a result of a Goa'uld dying within the dog." 

"I'm hoping that answer isn't B." 

"Me too, but we have to take that option into consideration. If the answer is B, then someone out there has access to Goa'ulds. That may or may not be Stan, we have no proof either way." 

"When Daniel and Janet first arrived, they had orders to remove the Goa'uld from Stan." 

"Janet said that Hammond ordered her to do that. His orders came from elsewhere." 

"Probably from the same people that had them pulled out once we discovered the naquada." 

"Someone is working against us here." Sam said. "I just don't know who." 

"It's those NID bastards." Jack replied. "This looks like their work." 

"Have we considered the possibility that Stan may be Tok'ra?" 

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "When we first arrived here we briefly discussed the possibility." 

"And if he is Tok'ra..." 

"That changes everything." Jack finished. 

"Exactly. If he's Tok'ra, then he's on our side." 

"Why would the President want us here to infiltrate the life of a Tok'ra? Don't they know what he is?" 

"Maybe that's the whole point. Think about it Jack...the Tok'ra send Stan on an undercover mission to Earth to attempt the Goa'ulds from taking over our animals. If someone from the NID knew about this, then they'd most likely want to stop Stan. What better way to stop Stan than to tell the President that they have reason to believe that there's a Goa'uld living among us, ready to take over the Earth. They sent us in and boom, no more Stan." 

"And those MIB's that are visiting Stan?" 

"The NID." 

"We weren't supposed to find that dog." 

Sam shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it. I have a feeling that someone put that dog there for us to find." 

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Tell me this, if Stan is a good guy, why does he keep trying to poison me?" 

"When Janet tested your blood, she found an unknown compound. She was going to run more thorough tests on it back at the base, see what she can determine." 

"We have to find who's got those Goa'ulds." 

"I think...I think we should keep this theory to ourselves." Sam said quietly. "If we tell General Hammond, he'll tell the President. It could ruin everything." 

"So what do I tell him the next time he calls?" 

"Tell him how well you're getting to know Stan. Make up something. We've got to keep them thinking that we're still after Stan." 

"If he's getting visits from the NID, they're most likely close by." 

"We've just got to keep doing what we were doing before." 

____________ 

"So I was thinking." 

Sam grinned at Jack. "I'm shocked!" 

Jack cast a mock glare at her. "I was thinking that maybe we need to get away from here, away from this town." 

"We can't just leave!" 

"We can take a day-trip somewhere, can't we? Just pack a lunch, get in the car and drive?" 

"Sure, I guess. When were you planning on doing this?" 

"The weather's supposed to clear up by tomorrow. It shouldn't be too hot." 

Sam closed the dishwasher and pressed the button to start it. "Sounds good. It'll be nice to get out of this house." 

Jack smiled. "I'll take a look at the map later, see if there's any parks around here." 

Sam nodded and walked into the living room. "Hey! Stan's outside!" 

Jack followed Sam to the window. Stan appeared to be washing his front stoop. 

"Doesn't it strike you as being a bit odd that he's washing his steps after we've had rain for the past three days?" 

Jack shrugged. "Maybe he spilled something on it. Lord knows that I've spilt enough drinks out on our..." 

Sam stared at Jack. "You've spilled drinks where?" 

"Nowhere. It's not important." 

"Is that where that large sticky spot on the deck came from?" 

"Might have been." 

"The wasps loved it. What was that?" 

"Iced tea, with extra sugar." 

Outside, Stan had set the hose down on the steps and began scrubbing at the cement with a brush. "Must have been something really mucky." Jack commented. 

Sam was about to reply when the phone rang. She ran for the kitchen and answered it. "Hello?...oh, hi Janet...we're fine...you did? what did you find?...I see...yes, I'll tell him...Stan?...uh huh...okay...bye." Sam hung up the phone and found Jack looking at her questioningly. 

"That was Janet." 

"I gathered as much. What did she say?" 

"She ran the tests on that compound in yours and Daniel's blood." 

"And?" Jack prompted. 

"She thinks that it was put there on purpose, to protect you." 

"Protect me from what?" 

"From the Goa'uld." 

Jack's eyes widened. "Well, that certainly helps confirm our theory." 

Sam nodded. "It certainly does." 

___________ 

The car drove past a roadside fruit stand and out of town. Sam rolled down her window and relished the feel of the wind on her face. The map lay spread out on her lap, flapping gently in the breeze. 

"So are we going to try for Ellison Park?" Jack asked. 

Sam looked down at the map and saw the park as a large green spot. "Might as well. It looks to be the closest park around." 

The day had broken with a few clouds hanging in the air, but once Sam and Jack were ready to leave for their day out, the clouds had all but disappeared. The sky was a bright blue, and the sun was warm, not hot. Sam had packed peanut butter sandwiches with jam and mixed up some grape Kool-Aid. 

"Does it say that I have to get off the highway anywhere?" 

Sam shook her head. "Nope, you should be able to access it off the highway in about ten miles." 

"You can turn the radio on if you want." 

"I don't need music. Besides, I have my window rolled down, I wouldn't be able to hear it." 

The scenery passed by, trees, hills, dirt. Jack saw a sign for the park and turned right off the road. The road into the park was gravel and the car bumped along it, jostling its passengers. Eventually they found themselves in a parking lot. Only one other vehicle, a brown pickup, was in the lot. Jack parked the car across the from the truck and got out to stretch his legs. 

Sam got out and breathed in deeply. "Smell that." she said. 

Jack breathed in. "Smells like pine trees. Smells like a lot of planets actually." 

Sam opened the trunk and took out her backpack. The sandwiches were in there, along with the usual first aid kit and towels. Jack grabbed the jug with the Kool-Aid in it and slammed the trunk shut. The trailhead was marked next to a small outhouse and they headed that way. 

The trail was narrow and dirt covered with wood chips. The wood chips hadn't done much to soak up the rain and as a result, it was muddy. Sam's boots squelched as she stepped down on it. She was glad that she'd had the sense to wear hiking boots, and not sandals. She hitched the pack up higher on her back and led the way down the trail. 

"Where do you suppose this trail goes to?" Jack asked after they had spent half an hour walking. 

"I haven't a clue. I guess we should have picked up one of those information brochures at the kiosk." 

"Good hindsight there." 

"It probably leads down to a lake, I saw one of those on the map." 

"A lake would be nice, too bad I didn't bring my swimming trunks." 

Sam raised her eyebrows suggestively, "Who says we need bathing suits?" 

Jack pretended to be scandalized. "Why Major Carter, I had no idea!" 

Sam laughed. "Come on, let's keep going. I think I see a clearing in the trees up ahead. That might be the lake." 

"I wonder where the owner of that truck is." Jack said as they started moving again. 

"Maybe he's down doing some fishing in the lake!" Sam called over her shoulder. 

"Awful long way to go to do some fishing." 

"You go to Minnesota. That's not a long way?" 

"That's different. I have a cabin there." 

Sam shrugged, not really seeing the difference. The trail hadn't widened out any since its head but it had become less muddy. Her boots were caked with mud but she could rinse them off in the lake, if they ever got there. 

Sam's clearing in the trees turned out to be little more than that, a clearing in the trees. Several stumps stood there, they looked freshly cut. "Want to take a break?" Jack asked, gesturing towards the stumps. "Those would make nice seats." 

The pair went over to the stumps and sat down on two of them. Sam put her pack at her feet and dug out the cups. "Fill 'em up." she said, passing the cups to Jack. 

Jack poured the Kool-Aid into the cups and they drank it down. Sam grimaced at the overly sweet flavour and decided that was the last time she let Jack add the sugar. They also had water bottles in the pack, but those were for emergencies. 

"Feels warm in here." Jack commented, pulling at the collar of his shirt. 

"Feels nice." Sam replied, looking up at the sky. 

They sat quietly for about five minutes. Sam, enjoying the warmth, and Jack debating on removing his shirt. A small rustling sound came from the bushes behind them and Jack turned around to see what it was. There was nothing there that he could see. 

"Did you hear that?" he asked Sam. 

Sam frowned and shook her head. "Hear what?" 

"I thought I heard something in the bushes." 

"It's probably just a squirrel or something. This is a forest you know." 

Jack decided that Sam was probably right, as she always was, and went back to deciding whether or not to take off his shirt. The bushes behind them moved again but this time Jack didn't turn around. Sam heard it too and ignored it. 

___________ 

A figured emerged from the bushes, shrouded in shadows. The man flinched a bit, but the woman remained still. It was a shame that they were about to die. They really were good people. 


	9. Chapter Nine

_So sorry that this chapter took me so long to write. I swear that my muse went on vacation or something!_   
  


"Are you sure that you didn't hear anything?" Jack asked Sam, his voice barely a whisper. 

Sam turned her head slightly to look at him. "I heard the bushes rustle if that's what you mean. Like I said, it's probably just a squirrel. Why are we whispering?" 

Jack turned around slowly, cautiously. His heart thudded in his chest. "Because there's someone behind us." 

Sam's eyes widened and she leapt to her feet. The man stood roughly seven feet behind them. He had no discernible weapons in his hands but the look on his face said it all. 

"Stay where you are!" he commanded, reaching for his pocket. "I have a gun." 

Jack cocked his head to the right. "Who are you?" 

Sam looked at the man. He was dressed in a black suit and looked absurdly out of place in the middle of a forest. "I know who he is." she said. "You're one of the men who has been visiting Stan." 

"Listen to the lady." the stranger said. "She knows what she's talking about." 

"Okay then. So, why do you want to kill us?" 

"You must be taken care of. You know too much, it will jeopardize the entire project." 

Sam lifted an arm to scratch her face and the man's hand inched closer to his pocket. "Look Mister whoever you are." Sam said quietly. "If we're so much of a problem, isn't Stan one too? Wasn't he sent here to destroy the project as you call it?" 

"It's too complicated to answer that now. Stan, as you call him, cannot be killed by us. We needed you do it for us, but you have failed. You found something that you shouldn't have." 

"We found a dog, that looked as if it had been implanted with a Goa'uld." Jack said, moving his feet as much he dared. 

"You are on the right track." the stranger said. "But I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to continue your investigation." 

"Who are you really?" Sam asked, narrowing her eyes. "NID? Rebel Goa'uld?" 

"You ask far too many questions." the man said, putting his hand fully into his pocket and wrapping his fingers around the gun. His hand slowly remerged and he lifted the gun. It was pointed directly at Sam's stomach. 

"I've been told." the man said, clicking off the safety. "That shooting a human in the stomach is one of the most painful ways for them to die. Let's test that theory, shall we?" 

Jack could only look on in horror as the stranger raised the gun and pointed it at Sam. Sam, to her credit, stood still, no trace of fear was visible on her face. Jack heard another rustle in the bushes and then watched silently as a burly man threw a rock towards their stranger. 

The man went down hard, landing on his arms. The gun in his hand fired and a pool of crimson blood began spreading out from him. Sam let out her breath and relaxed her shoulders. Jack stepped towards her and put an arm around her shoulders. 

The other man crashed through the bushes and entered the clearing. He smiled at them. "Saw that you guys were having a little trouble, just thought that I'd lend a hand." 

"Thank you." Jack said sincerely. 

"My name's Brian. I was down by the lake doing some fishing, not many biting this time of year though. Was on my way back to my truck when I passed this clearing and saw you and the pretty lady having a face off with that man in the black suit. He didn't look happy." 

"You may have very well saved our lives Brian." Sam said. "Thank you." 

"No a problem, but say, who are you folks anyway? You part of some group, like that Mafia that I seen on TV?" 

Jack laughed a bit and shook his hand. "Nope, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill and this is Major Samantha Carter, we're with the Air Force." 

Sam looked Jack questioningly as he revealed their true identities. Brian smiled even wider. "Then it was my pleasure to help you folks out. That man?" he asked, gesturing towards the body on the ground. "Is he one of them MIB's that were in that movie with that giant bug alien?" 

Sam nodded. "Something like that." 

Brian looked rather pleased with himself and hitched his fishing rod up higher on his back. "Well, I'd best be going. I promised my wife that I'd be home before dinner time." 

"Thanks again for all your help." Jack said. "The United States Air Force commends you for your bravery." 

Brian's face nearly cracked from the huge grin on it. He stepped over the body and headed back towards the path that would take him back to his truck. Sam waited until he was a fair distance away before speaking again. 

"Well, whoever this man was." she said, "He had red blood. What do you want to do with him?" 

"Ideally I'd like to take him with us and have Janet do an exam on him, but I don't think that's going to be possible. I guess we should cover him up and move along." 

Sam had moved away from Jack and was rooting through her pack. "What are you looking for?" Jack asked. 

Sam held up a pocket knife. "This." she said. "I want to know if he's Goa'uld." 

Jack winced as he watched Sam slice into the back of the man's neck. "You sure you really want to be doing that? I mean, doesn't the symbiont stay alive for a while after the host is dead?" 

"Usually the symbiont will escape the dying host's body and search for a suitable replacement." 

Sam grimaced as she peeled back the skin of the man's neck. Her search turned up nothing. "He's not a Goa'uld." she said, placing the flap of skin back down. 

"Maybe he's Jaffa?" Jack suggested. "Just doing the bidding of his master." 

Sam put the knife down beside her and then rolled the man over. She pulled his shirt up but found no tell-tale pouch. "He's not Jaffa either." 

"He must be human." Jack said. "NID." 

"But when he was going to shoot me, he said that he'd heard that shooting **a human** in the stomach was one of the most painful ways to die. Would he have said that if he was human? It just sounds strange." 

"It does, but we'd better this guy out of sight before someone comes along." 

Sam and Jack prepared a shallow grave behind a fallen tree. They put him in the slight hole and covered him with bushes and fallen leaves. Sam tossed fresh dirt over the blood soiled dirt and then they stood back and examined the clearing. 

"You'd never know that someone died here." Jack said with a note of pride. 

"Come on." Sam said picking up her pack. "Let's go home. I need a shower. A really long shower." 

__________ 

"You did what?!?" 

Jack could hear Janet's exclamation over the phone, and he wasn't even in the same room as Sam. 

"Keep your voice down!" he heard Sam say. "We don't want anyone else to know." 

Janet went back to a normal speaking volume, so Jack could only hear one side of the conversation again. Sam explained what she had found, or rather what she had not found in the man and Janet, presumably, had offered a few suggestions of her own. 

"Anyway, I'd better let you go." Sam said. "I'm sure you have work to do." 

Jack reached for the remote control and turned the TV on. Sam said her goodbyes to Janet and then sat down on the couch beside Jack. 

"Janet's disappointed that we didn't get her a sample of blood." 

"I always thought that woman was a vampire." 

"To test Jack, not to drink. I told her that we didn't have any suitable containers for it. You know, she suggested that the man might have been some other race of alien." 

"Another race of aliens? Great, just what we need." 

"It's possible. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what's out there." 

Jack flipped channels on the TV. "So, this means that these other aliens are in line with the Goa'ulds? They're allies of the Goa'uld?" 

"This isn't good." Sam said, leaning back into the couch cushions. "The last thing we need is another alien race out to get us." 

"You wanna get some Chinese food?" 

Sam tilted her head to look at Jack. "There might be another potentially dangerous alien race out there and you're thinking about Chinese food?" 

"I'm hungry. All that tramping through the woods did wonders for my appetite." 

"Fine, I just have to use the bathroom and then we'll go." 

____________ 

Several days passed with no sign of any more MIB's. Stan had been unusually quiet and was rarely seen outside of his house. Jack was almost beginning to worry about him, almost. 

The two were sitting on their deck, enjoying a beer and the cool night air. "So I called the house painters today." Sam said, uncrossing her legs. 

"Oh yeah, and what did they say?" 

"I booked an appointment for an estimate tomorrow. The guy said that someone would by around noon." 

"Won't the government just love getting that bill." Jack said with a laugh. 

"You going out job hunting again tomorrow?" 

"Yeah, I think so. It's starting to look kind of strange that neither of us are working, yet we can afford to buy groceries still." 

"Maybe we won the lottery." 

"I don't think the people will buy that. They might be smarter than they look." 

Jack blew the ash off the end of the mosquito coil and adjusted it a bit. "We're going to need more of these coils." 

"They seem to work well, don't they. Much better than those citronella candles." 

"Sure beats spraying repellent all over us too." 

Jack stood up from his chair and went over to the edge of the deck. He could hear a few crickets chirping and every once in a while, a mosquito whined in his ear. "This is nice." he said. 

Sam nodded, even though Jack couldn't see her. "The weather's lovely." 

"That's not exactly what I meant." 

"Oh? What did you mean?" 

"This. The whole thing." Jack turned around, leaning his back on the deck rail. 

"The whole 'being chased by Goa'uld dogs and nameless aliens, while we live across the street from one Stanley La Grupa, who may or may not be Tok'ra' thing?" 

"I was talking more about being here with you." 

"Oh." was all Sam could think to say. She shifted in her seat and took another mouthful of beer. 

"I mean, it sure beats being here with Teal'c." Jack said quickly, sensing that he'd made Sam uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, I can't imagine you and Teal'c trying to pass yourselves off as a couple!" 

"Let's not even go there Sam." Jack said, chuckling a bit. 

Jack sat back down and propped his feet up on a small plastic table. He picked up his beer from beside his chair and held it out to Sam. "To Lisa and Charles." he said. Sam lifted her beer up and they clinked their bottles together. "To Lisa and Charles." she echoed. 

_____________ 

On Thursday night Jack headed across the street to Stan's place. He was a little concerned because Stan hadn't dropped by with an invite to baseball night. Jack walked up the steps and pushed the doorbell. He could hear it ring. 

Jack waited a couple minutes with no response. He pushed the bell again and knocked on the door. A few minutes later Stan appeared at the door, wearing a bathrobe. 

"Hey Stan." Jack said. "You not feeling well?" 

Stan blew his nose into a tissue. "I think I have a cold." 

"Guess that means that you're not up for baseball tonight then huh?" 

Stan shook his head and winced at the pain of moving it. "I don't think so Charles, but feel free to go ahead without me." 

"Nah, it just wouldn't be the same without you!" Jack exclaimed. "We need our star pitcher. Maybe next week?" 

"Hopefully I'll be feeling better by then." 

"You want me to have Lisa make up a batch of chicken soup for you?" 

"I'll be alright, thank you. I just need some rest." 

"Sorry to bother you then." Jack said with a sympathetic smile. "Hope you feel better soon!" 

Stan shut the door and Jack stood there contemplating that for a moment. He'd never seen a sick Goa'uld before, Tok'ra or not. Their symbionts were supposed to protect them from annoyances like that. He shrugged and went back to his house. 

"Sam!" Jack called as he entered the house. Sam, who was cleaning the bathroom, yelled, "What?" 

"Stan's sick!" 

"He can't be sick! Goa'ulds don't get sick!" 

Jack stood in the doorway to the bathroom and watched Sam bend over the tub and scrub at it. "I know that Goa'ulds don't get sick." 

"You think he's faking it?" Sam asked. 

"Could be, but he sounded pretty sick to me. Is it possible for a virus to get past his symbiont?" 

"I think that it would have be specially engineered to do that. You might want to ask Janet, she'd know more about that than I would." 

Sam stood up and put a hand on her back. "Ugh." she said. "Cleaning a tub has got to be one of the most strenuous activities around." 

"Want a massage?" 

"Are you serious?" 

"Sure. I've been told that I give a pretty mean massage." 

"Just let me finish up in here, then you can massage me, okay?" 

"I'll be in your bedroom, waiting." Jack said in a suggestive tone. 

Sam blushed and bent down over the tub again to hide it. Jack left the doorway and went to Sam's room, as he promised. He sat down on her bed and waited. And waited. And waited. 

"Sam? You almost done in there?" 

"Just about!" she called back. 

"You know, you don't have to be able to see your face everywhere in there!" 

"I'm almost done, hold your horses." 

Jack picked up Sam's nightgown that was laying on her pillow. He fingered the satiny material then put it down again. He heard the toilet flush then Sam appeared a few moments later. 

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" 

"Take off your shirt." 

"Pardon me?" 

"Take off your shirt. I can't give you a proper massage if you have a shirt on. If you want, I'll turn my head while you take off your shirt. You can lay down on the bed." 

"Fine, turn your head." Sam said and Jack obediently turned his head away. 

Sam flopped down on the bed and scootched her way up towards Jack. Jack took a look a the expanse of bare back and drew in a breath. "Okay." he said under his breath. "We can do this." 

"What did you say?" 

"Oh, uh, nothing. Do you mind if I undo your bra? It would make this easier." Jack felt his face flush as he said the word bra. 

"Uh no, go ahead." 

Jack fiddled around with the clasp for a few seconds before he got it to release. He pushed the straps off her and gingerly laid a hand on her warm back. So soft. He moved his fingers a bit, watching her skin rise up with goosebumps. 

"Is this your idea of a massage?" Sam asked, her voice slightly muffled. 

"No, no, of course not. I'm just trying to remember if I have any massage oil." 

Jack got off the bed. "I'll be right back." 

Sam sighed and waited for him to return. She half wondered why he would have packed massage oil in the first place but decided not to pursue that train of thought. Jack returned a few minutes later with a small bottle in his hands. 

"Found some." he said triumphantly. "With peppermint oil." 

He settled himself back down on the bed and poured a small amount onto his hands. He touched her back again. "Uh Jack, I don't mean to sound presumptuous, but wouldn't it be easier to do this if you were straddling me?" 

"Straddling you?" Jack croaked. 

"Yes, straddling me rather than sitting beside me." 

"Oh, of course." Jack put one knee on either side of Sam and put both of his hands on her back. He rubbed her shoulder blades and Sam moaned softly. Jack could have sworn that all the blood in his body rushed south. He continued to massage Sam, trying to ignore her small sounds of pleasure and how nice her back felt. 

"Wow." Sam breathed when he was done. "You weren't kidding." 

Jack made a strangled noise that may have been a cough and sat back down beside her, keeping his hands folded over his lap. 

Sam turned over, keeping her bra clasped to her chest and sat up. Jack tried to ignore this as well. "Thanks." she said softly. "My back feels much better." 

Jack nodded. "Any time." he managed to say and got up off the bed and practically ran out of the room. Sam watched him go and laughed to herself.   
  



	10. Chapter Ten

_Well, would you lookie here! I actually wrote two chapters in one week! My muse is definitely back from her vacation. She brought me a lovely shirt and a poster though, so maybe I'll forgive her! :-)_   
  
  


"I just wanted to thank you for that massage again. My back feels better now than it has since we arrived here. I guess it's partly been all the stress." 

Jack glanced in Sam's direction and nodded. "Like I said, any time." 

"I'll hold you to that." 

Jack dug his spoon into his cereal and lifted a heaping spoonful up. "You seen Bonnie around lately?" he asked before shovelling the load into his mouth. 

"No, I haven't seen her for a couple of days now. I hope she's alright." 

Jack picked up his bowl and drained the last bit of milk into his mouth. He put the bowl down and wiped his lips. "Maybe you should pay her visit?" 

Sam picked up Jack's bowl and headed for the dishwasher. "Yeah, maybe I will. Just make sure that she's okay." 

After Sam had loaded the dishwasher and Jack had headed back out to resume his job search, Sam slipped on her sandals and headed down the street for Bonnie's house. She stepped up to the door and rang the bell. Sam waited two minutes before ringing the bell again and hearing heavy footsteps inside the house. The door swung open to reveal Bonnie, with stringy greasy hair, in a robe, wiping her nose with a tissue. Sam frowned. 

"Hi Bonnie." 

Bonnie blew her nose loudly. "Hi Lisa." she said, sounding absolutely terrible. 

"Got a cold?" Sam asked, stating the obvious. 

"Yes, I feel horrible, like someone keeps hammering my head." 

"I just came by to see how you're doing. I hadn't seen you for a few days now." 

Bonnie pushed back a limp lock of hair. "I haven't been out of the house in three days now. I just don't have the energy any more." 

"Have you seen a doctor? This cold sounds pretty serious." 

"No, no. I'll be fine. It'll pass on its own. Besides, there is no cure for the cold." Bonnie replied, trying to sound light-hearted. 

"There could be complications though Bonnie. Pneumonia for one." Sam said. "Stan has a nasty cold too." 

"Must be going around then. Really Lisa, I'll be fine! In fact, I'm feeling better today than I was yesterday." Bonnie tried to smile, but it must have hurt her head. 

Sam eyed Bonnie critically and finally nodded. "Alright, but if you need anything, just give me a call." 

"I will Lisa. Thank you for your concern." 

Bonnie shut the door and Sam walked back out to the sidewalk. It was another warm day, though summer was coming to an end. The street was totally silent, which wasn't unusual. Sam had seen the owners of the other houses, but hadn't exchanged more than a half-hearted wave with any of them. They all appeared to be at work. 

Once Sam reached her own house, she paused and looked across the street at Stan's place. It felt strange not to see him out working on his lawn. She hesitated a moment before crossing the street and ringing Stan's doorbell. 

Sam rang the bell five times with no answer. Stan's old beater was parked in front of the house, and if he was as sick as Jack had claimed him to be, there was no way that he'd gone for a walk. Sam grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it but the door was locked. Making a decision, Sam went back across the street and rummaged through her night table drawer. 

Roughly five minutes later, Sam returned to Stan's door with her lock picking kit in hand. She knew what she was about to do was illegal, but she was worried about Stan. She didn't know why she felt that she could trust him, but she just did. 

Sam fiddled around with the lock for a moment before it clicked and Sam opened the door. "Hello?" she called as she stepped into the darkened house. 

A strong smell permeated the house. A combination of garbage and human excrement. Sam grimaced and tried not to breathe through her nose. "Hello?" she called again, this time louder. 

A faint groan answered her hails and Sam tracked the noise to a bedroom on the upper level. She pushed open the door, which was partly ajar and looked at the scene that greeted her. Stan lay curled up on the floor, surrounded by his own waste. Sam fought back the bile that was threatening to rise up. 

"Oh my God..." she breathed. "Stan!" 

Sam knelt down at Stan's side and pressed a finger to his carotid artery. His pulse was weak and thready. "Stan? Can you hear me?" 

Stan's eyes rolled in Sam's direction. "Lisa." he said weakly. 

"I'm going to call an ambulance." 

"No!" he said with as much force as he muster. "No ambulance. They must not know." 

"Know what Stan? Tell me." 

"What I am." 

Sam put a hand on Stan's cheek. It felt cool and clammy. Mucus was streaming from his nose down his other cheek and Sam found a tissue and wiped it off. "Tell me Stan. I understand." 

"I know." he said, his voice cracking. "You're special too. I could feel it." 

"Do you know who I am?" 

"You're Lisa Callaghan." Stan replied. 

"No, who I really am. Why I'm here." 

"You were like me once. You came here to kill me. But you did not. Now, someone else has." 

"How did they do this to you Stan? How?" 

"Must have been a specifically engineered virus. Need one to get past the symbiont." 

"I was right then. Who did this to you?" 

"The Others." 

Sam shifted positions slightly to relieve some of the pressure on her knees from kneeling down so long. "Who are The Others?" 

"They are allies. Not of us, but of the System Lords." 

"Us? Stan, you're Tok'ra?" 

"Stan nodded, his eyes rolling towards the back of his head. "I am." 

"Tell me, do you know Selmak?" 

"Selmak. Of course." 

"My father is her host." 

Stan looked mildly confused. "Selmak. She has a female host." 

"Oh my God..." Sam looked at Stan with her eyes wide. "How long have you been here?" 

"On Earth? For ten of your years. I move from place to place." 

Sam looked at Stan incredulously. "That's amazing." she said. "And you were sent here to stop The Others?" 

Stan tried to move his arm but failed. "Yes. They are here as well. They and the System Lords, have evil plans." 

Sam nodded, she was beginning to understand now. "Stan? When you took Charles out to play baseball and then to the pub, he would always come home with what seemed like the worst hang over in history. What did you put in his drinks?" 

"Protection." 

"Protection? From what?" 

"The Others. I knew he was special. Not like you. But special." 

Stan groaned again and closed his eyes. "Stan! You have to stay with me here!" Sam said, a note of panic in her voice. 

"I will try." he replied weakly, not opening his eyes. 

"We killed one of these Others." Sam said. 

"They cannot be killed." 

Sam raised an eyebrow. "But he shot himself. He was dead, we buried him!" 

"He was 'faking it' as you humans say." 

"Oh God. Before he tried to kill me, he said that he couldn't kill you himself. He needed us to do it. Obviously he didn't mean that." 

"What he meant...was that he could not kill me with his own hands. It goes against their religion." 

"Their religion? It goes against their religion?" Sam felt like laughing. That statement was so utterly ridiculous. "They have no qualms about helping the Goa'uld wipe out the human race, but they can't kill a man with their own hands?" 

Stan nodded. "Return the favour." he said slowly. "Tell me. Who are you?" 

"Major Samantha Carter. United States Air Force. I work at the SGC. The Stargate." 

"No. Tok'ra." 

"I'm not Tok'ra Stan. My father is." 

"You are special." 

"I was once host to a Tok'ra named Jolinar. She sacrificed herself so that I could live." 

Stan smiled weakly. "I knew Jolinar." he said. 

"She was very brave." 

Stan drew in a deep breath and exhaled noisily. "You must stop them." 

Sam felt tears prick her eyes. "We'll try. I think that The Others have infiltrated our government though, it won't be easy." 

"You will try." 

"Yes Stan, we'll try. We'll try our hardest." 

Stan smiled again and drew in another breath. He exhaled then his body seemed to relax. Sam watched him, a tear trickling down her cheek. "Bye Stan." she said softly and picked herself up. 

___________ 

Sam was sitting curled up in the chair when Jack came through the door. Sam lifted her head and gazed sadly at Jack as he entered the living room. "What's wrong? It looks like someone ran over your dog." Jack said, settling himself down on the sofa. 

"Stan's dead." Sam said simply. 

"He's what?" 

"Dead. He died this morning. I was there with him." 

"That cold he had killed him?" 

"It was specifically engineered virus designed to do just that." 

"Wow." was all Jack said. 

"I didn't know what to do with the body, so...he's still in his bedroom. On the floor." 

"Who engineered the virus that killed him?" 

Sam took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Jack all that Stan had told her. Jack listened intently, nodding as she went along. 

"So, Stan was Tok'ra all along." Jack said once Sam finished her tale. 

"Yes, and now he's a dead Tok'ra." 

Jack scrunched his brows together. "So, he was protecting me every time we went to the bar?" 

"That's what he said, and that would explain that unknown compound that Janet found in your blood." 

"He must have given it to Daniel as well. That's probably why he was so intent on asking us if we smoked, maybe the compound reacts with the nicotine or something." 

"Could be. Think about it though Jack, if Janet could synthesize more of this compound, we could protect a lot more people from these Others than Stan spoke of." 

"Getting ahold of that virus could be useful too." Jack added. "If it can kill Tok'ra, then it can kill Goa'ulds." 

"We'd have to be careful with though." Sam said. "We don't want to kill any more Tok'ra. And besides, who knows if the virus is still in Stan's bloodstream. If the designers were smart, they would have it break down so that no one could get their hands on it." 

"We need to talk to the General." Jack said, standing up. "I'll ask him not to pass anything onto the President. He'll understand." 

___________ 

Jack stood at the window, watching as a truck pulled up in front of Stan's house. Several men got out and ran up the walk. They were wearing full haz-mat suits. It was the middle of the night and so far none of the neighbours had turned on their porch lights and come out to watch. Jack considered that a stroke of luck. 

"From what I can determine Sam, you're in perfect health." 

Jack turned around and looked at Sam and Janet. Janet had been insistent that Sam have a full checkup, just be safe. She had, after all, once been a host to Goa'uld, and the virus could work with the naquada in her system. 

In the twelve hours since Jack had called General Hammond, a team had been dispatched to retrieve, study and dispose of Stan's body and Janet had arrived, bringing with her an entire laboratory of equipment. 

"This is unbelievable." Janet said, referring to the situation as Sam had explained it to her. "I mean, I knew when I tested that dog's blood that you were onto something big. I just had no idea how big it really is." 

"Do you think it's likely that any of the virus has managed to survive in Stan's body?" Sam asked. 

Janet shook her head. "If this were a natural virus, most likely yes. Seeing as this virus was manufactured by someone - or something - it's unlikely that we'll find anything. However, I have made some progress on determining the components of that compound that was in your blood Colonel." 

"Do you think that you could synthesize more of it?" Jack asked. 

"It's very complex sir. I'll need to get a team working on it. I can't do it by myself." 

"We can't trust anyone else Janet! If you tell the General that you need a team of scientists, the government would probably send us a group of those aliens!" Sam exclaimed. 

"That's a possibility, but unfortunately, there's not many stationed at the SGC right now who are qualified to deal with something like this." 

"Those aliens might even be at the SGC for all we know." commented Jack. He turned around and faced the window again. The haz-mat team was now loading the body, wrapped in multiple layers of plastic, into the back of their truck. Several of the men were returning to house with spray tanks strapped to their backs. The clean-up crew no doubt. 

Jack had no idea how the sudden disappearance of Stan would be explained, but that's wasn't up to him. For that he was eternally gratefully. 

"Sam?" Jack said, turning around again. "Didn't you say that Bonnie was sick?" 

"Yes. When I stopped by there this morning, or rather yesterday morning, she said she had a cold. She looked terrible. You don't think that..." 

Jack pursed his lips. "You never know." 

"But I haven't gotten any feelings from her. I'd know if she was Goa'uld!" Sam protested. 

Janet stood up. "It's worth a look into Sam. Let's get over there now." 

The trio headed out the door and into the dark night. 

___________ 

"Bonnie!" Sam yelled, banging on the door. "Bonnie, if you're in there, answer the door!" 

Jack and Janet stood behind Sam as she pounded on the door. The haz-mat team's truck crept down the street behind them, taking the body of Stanley La Grupa to an unknown facility. 

Bonnie answered the door bleary eyed and confused. "Lisa?" she asked, staring at Sam. "What are you doing here? It's two in the morning!" 

"How are you feeling Bonnie?" Janet asked. 

"Raylene? Is that you?" 

Janet nodded. "Yeah, it's me. How are you? Lisa said that you had a cold?" 

Bonnie sniffled. "I was feeling better. I was finally getting a good night's sleep, that was until you started banging on my door." 

"Do you mind if I take a look at you?" Janet asked, stepping closer. 

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "Why? Why do you want to take a look at me? Why are you three standing of my front step at two in the morning?" 

"Because we have reason to believe that you might not be who you say you are." Jack said. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Have you any contact with Stan recently?" Janet asked. 

"I talked to him about four days ago, I guess. He was out trimming his bushes and I stopped by and said hi. That's all. I haven't been kissing him or anything." 

Janet nodded, committing this information to memory. She held up the bag that she held in her hand. "Do you mind if I do a small examination on you?" 

"Are you a doctor or something? Is Stan really sick?" 

"Something like that." Janet muttered. "Do you mind?" 

Bonnie looked frightened but stepped aside and let the trio in. Bonnie led them into the living room and turned an end table light on. Janet sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside her. Bonnie cast a nervous glance at Sam. Sam nodded and Bonnie sat down. 

Janet opened up her bag and took out a stethoscope. Sam and Jack sat on the loveseat and watched as Bonnie breathed deeply as instructed by Janet. 

"I'm going to examine your neck now Bonnie. My fingers might be a little cold." 

Janet put her hands on the back of Bonnie's neck and probed gently. Bonnie sneezed. "Bless you." supplied Jack. 

Janet took a thermometer out of her bag and put the wand in Bonnie's ear. "You're running a slight fever." she said. 

"I could have told you that." 

"Do you mind if I draw some blood?" 

Bonnie's eyes widened. "Draw some blood? Do you really need to?" 

"It would be helpful." 

Bonnie drew in a shaky breath. "I just have a terrible needle phobia." 

"I'll be gentle." Janet took out a rubber band and wrapped it around Bonnie's arm. She then swabbed a small area with alcohol and plunged a needle in. Bonnie paled. 

"Try to breath normally." Janet said, recognizing that her patient was about to pass out. The syringe filled with blood and Janet pulled the needle out. "All done." she said cheerfully. 

Sam and Jack stood up. "Try to get some rest now Bonnie. Thank you for your co-operation." Janet said and the trio left the house. Bonnie watched them go and rubbed the sore spot on her arm. Something strange was going on here, she decided and went back to bed.   
  



	11. Chapter Eleven

"It's normal." 

Sam glanced over at the petite doctor. "What's normal?" 

"Bonnie's blood. It's normal, she's completely human. She has a cold, simple as that." 

Sam almost winced. "What are we supposed to say to her now after we came barging into her house at some ungodly hour and demanded a sample of her blood? She's bound to be suspicious now if she wasn't already." 

Janet ran a hand through her dark hair. "I suppose we could make up some story about there being a deadly virus on the loose. She's going to know that Stan's missing, we'll tell her that he, unfortunately, died." 

"You want to tell her? You're the one who jabbed her with a needle." 

"Uh sure, I'll tell her. I can say that I'm with the Centre for Disease Control and we just wanted to be on the safe side." 

"The CDC?" 

"Sure, why not? I'll just put away some of this equipment and then I'll head over there and 'explain' everything to her." 

Sam nodded, pleased that she wasn't the one who had to explain this to Bonnie. "It's too bad that Stan died." Sam said, with a touch of sorrow in her voice. "He could have been very helpful." 

"That's probably why he's dead." Jack said as he came down the steps and into the basement. "I just got off the phone with Hammond, he wants all of us to report back to base after the situation with Bonnie is dealt with." 

"Janet just got the results of her tests back, Bonnie isn't a Goa'uld." 

"Good to know. What are we going to tell her though?" Jack asked, curious to know what the woman had come up with. 

"I'm going to talk with her now." Janet replied. "I'll tell her that I work for the CDC and that there was a potentially deadly virus on the loose." 

"Well that should freak her out." Jack said. "I can just imagine what I'd do if someone knocked on my door and told me that there was a virus loose in my neighbourhood. I'd probably want to move." 

"But there isn't actually a virus." Sam said. 

"She doesn't know that." 

"Do you have a better idea?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly. 

"Well...no." 

Janet pulled a cover over a microscope and headed for the steps. "I should be back soon." she said and headed up the steps. 

"So." Jack said, looking at Sam. 

"So? What?" 

"Time to leave. Our work here is done." 

"Did the General say anything about transportation arrangements?" 

"Take the first flight that we can catch, charge the tickets to the government." 

"What are we going to do about this whole alien thing? We can't just forget that it ever happened. We now have another enemy, and this one has gotten too close to home." 

"There's nothing we can do here." Jack replied rationally. "Who knows how long these aliens have been involved with our government." 

Sam sighed. "I guess. It's a shame that we couldn't have stayed here longer." 

"You like it here?" 

Sam smiled. "I had a good time, even if we never did get the house painted or air conditioning installed. I'm going to miss this." 

Jack returned Sam's smile. "It's been nice not being alone again." 

Sam laughed softly. "I had someone other than my plants to talk to!" Jack laughed, thinking of his scientific-minded Major talking to a philodendron. 

Sam got off the stool that she had been sitting on and looked around the basement. "Is someone going to come and pack up all this stuff?" 

"I'm sure someone will make that happen. The house will be put back on the market and some other unfortunate soul can experience the joy that is a pink house." 

Sam looked at Jack, his smile creasing the corners of his eyes. He so rarely smiled that Sam often forgot how much she enjoyed it. She scuffed her foot on the cement floor, pushing around a sliver of cardboard. Jack stepped closer to her and touched her arm. 

"It'll be okay." he said. 

"What will?" 

"What you were thinking about." 

Sam looked into his eyes. "Oh, and what was I thinking about?" 

"You were thinking about how much you were going to miss having me around to bother. About how much you wish that we could keep up this co-habitation." 

"A little presumptuous are we?" Sam said, not willing to admit that those thoughts had crossed her mind. 

"Am I?" 

Sam put a hand on Jack's shoulder and took a step forward. She could feel his breath in her hair. "Maybe you're not." 

Jack bent his head down and kissed her gently on the lips. He half expected Sam to pull away but she didn't. They broke the kiss and Sam put her head on Jack's shoulder. Jack wrapped his arms around her and revelled in the feeling of her in his arms. 

"Maybe there's a way." he murmured into her ear. 

____________ 

Jack threw some clothes into a duffel bag and zipped it up. They couldn't take all their belongings onto the plane with them, and were counting on the government to return their clothes to them and soon. Janet talked to Bonnie who had, understandably, been a little scared about the possibility of a deadly virus in her neighbourhood. Janet had tried to reassure her, but Bonnie had already decided that she would get out of town for several weeks. 

Sam chose not to say goodbye to Bonnie before they left. She didn't want to have to explain why she was leaving. Sam had packed her duffel bag and had it by the front door. 

"You alright?" Janet asked her friend. "You seem a little down." 

"Jack kissed me." Sam said, in reply. She surprised herself with the revelation. She hadn't intended on telling anyone about what happened between them in the basement. 

"He kissed you? When?" 

"While you were talking with Bonnie. We got talking about how much we were going to miss living together and he kissed me." 

"That's why you're sad?" 

Sam nodded. "I know what I can't have." 

Janet smiled sympathetically at Sam. "I know it's hard. I know that what I saw and heard during the za'tarc incident wasn't something to be taken lightly." 

Sam sighed and pulled on her sandals. "Jack!!" she called. "We're ready to go!" 

"I'm coming!" came his reply from down the hall. 

Bags were tossed into the trunk and Sam, Jack and Janet got into the car. As Jack manoeuvred the car out into the street, Sam gave the pink house one last look as they drove down the street. 

__________ 

The figure behind the bushes watched as the humans left. After the car had disappeared around the corner, he stepped out from his hiding place and crossed the street. They had locked the door to the house, but that never stopped him. 

He put his hand over the doorknob and twisted it slightly. The locked clicked and the knob turned. He entered the house and went straight for the bedrooms. He didn't know what he was looking for, he was just looking for something. They had taken most of the evidence with them. The dark haired woman had knowledge of the protectant and the blonde one knew more about them that she should. The man appeared to be lacking intelligence, but the blonde one had told him of their existence. He was not as stupid as he appeared to be. 

The man counted himself lucky that they had not thought to take blood samples when they 'buried' him. If he had been able to do his job properly, they would not be in this situation now. Damn that man with the rock, damn him. 

___________ 

Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His knees hit the seat in front of him and Janet turned around and glared at him. "Sorry." he mouthed to her. 

Sam was asleep beside him, snoring softly. Jack sat up straight in his seat and looked over the seat back at Janet. She was reading a magazine that was telling her how to lose those unwanted inches in just five days! Her seat mate was an elderly gentleman who, like Sam, had fallen asleep. 

Janet flipped a page and Jack read on about how to lose those unwanted inches. He personally didn't think that Janet needed to lose weight, but women were strange that way. 

"Do you want a magazine of your own Colonel?" Janet said, turned her head around again. "I hate it when people read over my shoulder." 

Jack shook his head emphatically. "No, no. I'm fine." 

"Why don't you take a nap?" Janet suggested helpfully. 

"Not tired I guess." 

Janet shrugged. "Just stop kneeing my seat please." 

Jack leaned back into his seat and kneed Janet's seat one more time. Janet flinched but didn't turn around. To his right, Sam gurgled a bit and began to cough. She sat up fully, rubbing her eyes. 

"Hey, you're awake!" Jack said brightly. 

"How long was I asleep?" 

Jack looked at his watch. "Almost two hours." 

"Mmmm. Did you sleep?" 

"No." Janet supplied helpfully from her seat. "He sat there and kneed my seat for two hours." 

"There's never enough room on these planes." Jack said apologetically. 

Jack looked down the aisle. "Oh, look. I think they're going to serve dinner now." 

"Great." Sam muttered. "Just when I have to use the washroom." 

"You can hop over their cart." Jack said, trying to picture Sam doing that. 

"I think I'll just wait, thank you." 

The flight attendant slowly made her way down the aisle and served dinner. After she was through, Sam practically pushed Jack out of his seat and ran down the aisle towards to the washroom. When she returned, they set up their trays and ate the rather unappetising dinner. 

After dinner, Sam borrowed a magazine from Janet and began to read about how to lose those unwanted inches. Jack told her that he didn't think she needed to lose weight, but Sam had just looked at him and told him that 'it was good to know these things'. 

A couple hours later the plane landed and they disembarked. They called a taxi to take them to the base, though they all really wanted to go home and freshen up. General Hammond had ordered them to report to the base. 

__________ 

"Welcome back Colonel, Major." Hammond said, when he met them in his office. "Close the door and have a seat. 

"It's good to be back sir." Jack said, closing the door. Sam had already sat down, and Jack sat next to her. General Hammond sat behind his desk with his hands clasped on the blotter. 

"From what I hear, we have quite the situation happening, is that correct?" 

"Yes sir, that's correct. We believe that an alien race, in alignment with the Goa'ulds, has infiltrated the United States government. Whether the President is aware of these aliens and is working in co-operation with them in unknown at this time." Sam said. 

"You understand that I am in a very difficult position." Hammond said. 

"Yes sir." both Sam and Jack replied. 

"I cannot, in good faith, accuse the President of co-operating with the enemy. I have tried to keep this knowledge contained within this facility." 

"Those men that came to collect Stan, they were from here?" Jack asked. 

"I had to call in a few favours, but yes, they were from here. Stan's body has been taken to a secure facility where Doctor Fraiser and her medical team will be given the opportunity to study it. If either of you two have any ideas regarding how this situation should be handled, I'm open to suggestions." 

"The aliens know that we know." Sam said. "My guess is that they won't remain relatively docile any longer." 

"Agreed." Hammond said. "But how do we deal with something that we know so little about?" 

Sam and Jack looked at each. "I don't think we can sir." Sam said and Jack nodded in agreement. "We saw what those aliens are capable of. Their level of technology is obviously further advanced than that of the Goa'uld." 

"I'm putting the base on alert." Hammond said. "Nobody goes in or out." 

"With all due respect sir." Jack said. "They might already be here."   
  



	12. Chapter Twelve

  


Janet hefted her bags up onto her shoulders and mentally went over a list. Sam's head appeared from around a wall and smiled at her. "Hey Janet." she said. 

Janet smiled in return at her friend. "Hey Sam." she said. 

"I'm surprised that the General is letting you and your team off the base." Sam said. "He told Jack and I that no one was to go in or out of here." 

"Apparently he's placing the study of Stan's body as a top priority." 

"What can we hope to learn from it?" Sam asked. 

"Like I've said before, chances are that the virus broke down in Stan's body so that no one could get ahold of the genetic coding, but there's always a chance that some part of it has remained." 

Janet glanced at a chronometer and sighed. "I'd better get top-side. I don't want to make the transport wait for too long." 

Sam nodded and then her face grew deadly serious. "Janet, be careful. I mean it, be careful. We don't know what these Others are capable of yet." 

Janet offered Sam a weak smile and left the room. 

___________ 

Sam sat down at her desk in her lab. As she reached for the telephone to get an outside line, someone banged loudly on her door. 

"Who is it?" she asked, hoping that it wasn't the General. 

"It's me. Can I come in?" 

"Alright me, you can come in." 

The door opened to admit Jack into the room. He saw Sam sitting with the telephone receiver in her hand and gave her a questioning look. 

"Who ya callin'?" he asked. 

"Bonnie." Sam mumbled. 

"You're calling Bonnie? We're not supposed to have any outside contact, you know the rules." 

Sam frowned. "I know, but I hated leaving her in the lurch. Think about it, we moved in and befriended her. Now suddenly one her neighbours is dead and gone and we just disappeared. She's going to know that something is up." 

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" 

"Tell her what? That I'm a Major in the Air Force and part of a team that goes to other planets and that her neighbour was actually an undercover alien who was killed by other undercover aliens? I think not." 

"Good, you had me worried for a moment there." 

"I just wanted to call her and touch base with her. Just let her know that we're alright." 

Jack moved a folder full of paper out of the way and perched himself on the edge of Sam's desk. "I won't tell the General if you won't." he said. 

"He'll find out anyway." Sam said. "But this is important to me." 

Sam got an outside line and dialled Bonnie's now familiar number. Jack picked up a paperweight and began picking at the paint on it. Sam waited for ten rings before putting the receiver back in its cradle and sighing. 

"No answer?" Jack asked. 

Sam shook her head. "No answer." 

___________ 

"He actually let her go?" Daniel asked, incredulous about the fact that Janet had left the base. "Is he crazy?" 

Sam shrugged. "That's debatable, but I guess he really wants some answers about that virus that killed Stan." 

Daniel lifted his mug of steaming coffee to his lips and took a sip. "He shouldn't have let her go." he said, after he put the mug down. 

"I told her to be careful." Sam said, picking at her salad. "I hope she heeds my warning." 

"I don't care how safe the Air Force thinks their facilities are, she should not have been allowed there." 

"You think that these aliens will be there?" Sam asked, spearing a tomato slice. 

"You don't?" 

"I do, I just wanted to know if we were thinking along the same path. Of course they're going to be there. If there's anything that can be learned from this body, they're going to want to protect it." 

"Who went with her?" 

"Just a few nurses. Apparently there's already more than enough staff at this facility." 

Daniel shook his head. "Teal'c should have accompanied her. At least have someone trained to fight there." 

"Janet can look after herself Daniel. She's more than capable. You should have seen her when Hathor took over the base." 

"That was years ago and besides, I'd rather not remember that experience." Daniel replied with a shudder. "Has she had any combat training since?" 

"Of course she has. She's a major in the Air Force, she's not helpless." 

"I'm just worried about her." Daniel said after a few moments of silence. 

Sam pushed away her plate and put her hand on top of Daniel's. "I know you are." she said. "We all are, but if she can learn anything about this virus, it could be the most important breakthrough in our defence against the Goa'uld to date." 

___________ 

Janet put on the regulation haz-mat suit and checked her air hoses. One of her nurses gave her suit a thorough once over and then gave her a thumbs-up. Janet felt a bit claustrophobic in her suit, rightly dubbed a spacesuit by the industry professionals, but knew it was a necessary precaution. Stan's body had been declared a level four hazard and that meant full body suit and external oxygen. 

Janet proceeded into the hot zone and approached Stan's body, which lay prone on the table. She moved slowly and carefully so that her air hoses didn't tangle with those of the others who were working in the area. She glanced down at her arm and punched the intercom button which would link her with everyone else in the room. 

"Alright people." she said. "We have here the body of a Tok'ra who was killed with any unknown synthesised virus. Our job is to find out exactly how this man was killed and to retrieve samples of the virus if at all possible." 

There was general murmuring of assent and the team got to work. The instruments used in a level four hot zone are purposefully blunt. It makes performing an autopsy difficult, but most people will agree that it's better than accidentally cutting through your gloves. Janet picked up a blunted scalpel and began to difficult task of cutting through flesh. Her hands were double gloved but she could still make out the familiar structures of the body. 

Someone, Janet thought his name may have been Irwin, moved in beside her and began to draw blood samples. The rest of team was busy with tissue samples and one of the nurses that Janet brought with her, assisted her in performing the autopsy. 

After what seemed like hours, Janet was standing under the decontamination shower. She had to remain in decon for a full ten minutes before being allowed to move to the next stage. In the next room, a woman helped her pull off her suit and then left her alone to change out of her scrubs and into her street clothes. Janet was glad to be left alone as you weren't allowed to wear anything under those scrubs. 

Once outside in the main part of the facility, Janet was greeted by Nurse Gillian Hansen, who had accompanied her from the SGC. 

"Did you learn anything?" Hansen asked, her green eyes wide. She had been disappointed to learn that she would not be allowed into the hot zone. 

Janet shook her head. "Nothing conclusive yet. Many of the tests are still running, we'll have the results tomorrow." 

"Doctor Fraiser?" 

Janet looked to her right and saw a young man looking at her questioningly. "Yes?" she said. 

"You have a phone call, it's a Major Carter. You can take it in right over here in this office.", the young man said, gesturing to a closed door behind him. 

Janet nodded and headed for the door. The young man followed her and Janet wondered if he planned on eavesdropping on her conversation. She picked up the phone. "Sam? What's up?" 

___________ 

Sam got up and stretched her legs. Her neck cracked and popped as she cocked it to one side. General Hammond had her compiling the data that she and Colonel O'Neill had gathered while undercover. To the best of her knowledge, the Colonel was in his office writing a full report on the matter. She hoped that he left some details out. 

Sam glanced at the computer screen and sighed. She hadn't slept since they'd gotten off the plane and that was over 24 hours ago. Right now her quarters on the base sounded very appealing. Visions of beds, pillows and Colonel O'Neill danced in her head. Sam shook her head and mentally snipped the Colonel out of the vision. Now was not the time for such thoughts. 

A knock sounded on her door and Sam looked up to see Teal'c entering her room. 

"Major Carter." the tall, dark man said. 

"Teal'c." Sam said with a smile. It wasn't very often that Teal'c paid her a visit. 

"I find myself most distressed with our current situation." Teal'c said. "I have no knowledge of these other aliens." 

"Surely Apophis would have known about them." Sam said. 

"As First Prime I was privilege to a wealth of information." Teal'c continued. "But not everything was shared with me. Perhaps these aliens were considered too big of risk to inform the Jaffa of." 

"That could be." Sam replied. 

"Had I known about them. I would not have hesitated to inform General Hammond of them when I first arrived on Earth." 

"I don't doubt that you would have." 

"You look exhausted Major Carter. When was the last time you slept?" Teal'c inquired. 

"Oh." Sam said, running a hand through her hair. "It's a been a while. I feels like sleeping would be such a waste of time when we have this threat on hand." 

"You are of no use to us in your present state." Teal'c said bluntly. "I suggest that you get some rest." 

Sam almost laughed at Teal'c blatant order to her but realized that he was right. "Thanks Teal'c." she said. "I'll go lay down." 

____________ 

Janet pulled on the spacesuit again the next day and looked around apprehensively. Sam's phone call yesterday had frightened her. The nurses and doctors that surrounded her all seemed to be staring at her. What Sam had told her yesterday was simply, "They're there Janet. I know they are. Please be careful and you'd better watch your suit." 

Nurse McGrath inspected Janet's suit for leaks and Janet looked her through wide brown eyes. As she replayed the conversation in her head, she could almost swear that she'd heard mirth in Sam's voice. Janet looked at her gloved hands and imagined a crack opening up across the palm. 

Of course, the level four hazard was just a precaution. Sam had been openly exposed to the body and she was suffering no ill effects, Janet tried to reason with herself. She had no reason to be nervous. 

The air lock opened up and the various men and women proceeded into the chamber. Janet went over a machine and pulled a few slides out of it. She placed them under a microscope and turned it up to high power. 

"Do you see anything?" asked a voice through her intercom. Janet stood up and turned around. A suit stood behind her, the face just barely visible through the hood. Janet pressed the button on her sleeve. 

"Nothing, but I'm not a specialist. Perhaps you'd like to take a look, Doctor...?" 

"Doctor Malysh, from the CDC." 

Janet stepped aside and let the doctor look into the scope. "I'll need a while to analyze this." he said. 

Feeling a bit useless, Janet left the microscope area and headed over the freezer where Stanley's remains were being stored. She lifted the lid and took a bag labelled simply: "Brain." 

She was constantly intrigued by the matter in which a Goa'uld took control of the host and welcomed any chance to study it further. She laid the bag down on a metal tray and picked up the blunted scissors. Someone had taken tissue samples from the brain but what Janet was interested in was the lower brain, the brainstem where the symbiont attached itself. 

The symbiont had died and was absorbed into the bloodstream when Stan had perished but it still left behind a fascinating legacy. Janet picked up a scalpel and began to cut through the layers. 

"Excuse me" said a voice, startling Janet who was engrossed in her work. Janet looked up and saw the man she now recognized as Doctor Malysh standing in front of her. 

"You might be interested to know what I've discovered." he said, gazing at her. 

Janet raised her eyebrows, though she knew that he couldn't see this through her hood. "What have you found out?" 

"That this body is highly infective." 

"What?!" Janet said in a shocked voice. "How could it be? My friend stood over him as he died and is in perfect health." 

"The virus that this man was infected with was engineered to break down and in a matter of hours transform into another virus, one that is lethal to humans." 

"What virus is that?" Janet asked, trying to steady her shaking hands. 

Through the hood, Janet thought she saw a malicious grin on the doctor's face as she spoke the next word. "Ebola." 

Janet felt a chill run down her spine. Ebola was one of the most feared viruses in the world. She saw the doctor's hand reach out towards her and before she could stop him, he had gotten ahold of the scalpel. She could only watch in horror as the blade tore through the double layer of gloves and exposed her naked flesh.   
  



	13. Chapter Thirteen

Sam hung up the phone, her eyes wide. Jack looked at her and immediately knew something was wrong. 

"Who was that?" he asked. 

"The facility where Janet went, there was an accident." 

"An accident?" 

"Apparently Janet was exposed to the Ebola virus." 

Jack stood up in surprise. "Ebola? Where did she manage to find Ebola?! I thought that the virus mainly lived in Africa." 

Sam shook her head. "I have no idea, the person didn't elaborate. All I know is that she's been placed in quarantine and is being watched around the clock for any symptoms." 

"Who's been placed in quarantine?" Daniel said. He had entered the room just in time to catch Sam's last sentence and worry was written all over his face. 

"Janet has, she's been exposed to the Ebola virus." Sam replied. 

"I knew she shouldn't have gone!" Daniel cried out. "We have to go there." 

"And the chances that Hammond will let us off this base are?" Jack said. 

"I don't care Jack. We have to go, Janet needs us." 

"Daniel's right sir." Sam said. "She needs to be with friends right now and more importantly, I have a feeling that whoever is responsible for Janet's 'accident' isn't human." 

"I'll talk to Hammond." Jack said and left the room. 

____________ 

"How are you feeling?" asked a disembodied voice through the speaker on the wall. 

"I'm fine! Can you let me out of here?" Janet replied. 

"No headaches? Chills? Weakness?" the voice asked. 

"I said I'm fine. Now let me out!" 

"You know I can't do that Doctor Fraiser. The symptoms may not manifest themselves until up to 16 days after infection." 

"If you think I'm staying cooped up in here for 16 days..." 

"Your lunch will be delivered shortly Doctor Fraiser. I suggest you calm yourself down." 

"But this virus isn't airborne!" Janet called desperately. "I didn't ingest anything and my hand wasn't cut!" 

"Please take a seat Doctor Fraiser. You don't want to stress yourself." 

Janet snarled at the speaker and sat down on the bed. Her quarantine room was a bare, white room with four walls. The bed occupied one wall, with a toilet and sink directly across from it. A slot where a tray of food would soon be delivered was in the door that remained sealed and locked. 

Janet's thoughts turned to Cassie and wondered what she'd been told. She hoped for Cassie's sake that she'd been told the truth. 

___________ 

"So, what did he say?" 

Jack looked at Sam and shrugged. "He must be feeling extra generous today, he said that we could go." 

"Seriously? I was expecting more of a fight." 

"So was I, and I had these wonderful replies lined up too. A transport is leaving in 20 and he wants all of SG-1 on it." 

Jack looked around. "Where did Daniel go?" 

"He mumbled something about his lab and left. I think he's really worried about Janet." 

"What's going on between those two anyway?" Jack asked. "I've never been able to figure it out." 

"I think it's a mutual crush thing. But don't quote me on that, I only know Janet's side of the story." 

"A 'mutual crush thing'? Is that the scientific definition?" 

"Sure, that's the first thing we covered in Scientists College. I know Janet's said how cute she thinks Daniel is." 

"Cute? I think she's been hanging around Cassie a bit too much." 

Sam opened her mouth to reply but then stopped as her brain registered Cassie's name. "Jack...do you think anyone has told Cassie where her mother is?" 

"Hammond didn't say anything about contacting her." 

Sam closed her eyes and opened them again. "She needs to know. She must be worried sick. Janet called her when we arrived back on base and told her that she couldn't come home. She promised Cassie that she'd call to check in everyday. I have to call her!" 

Jack put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "You call Cassie." he said. "And I'll round up Daniel and Teal'c." 

__________ 

SG-1 stepped off the jet and onto the tarmac; a young man was waving to them from beside a jeep. Jack led his team over to the jeep. 

"Colonel O'Neill, sir!" said the young man, whose uniform identified him as a lieutenant, as he snapped off a salute. 

"At ease Lieutenant." Jack said, not used to being saluted. 

"My orders are to take you and your team directly to the base, sir." 

Jack nodded, "That's correct. So let's get in the vehicle and get moving!" 

SG-1 piled into the jeep and the lieutenant drove them to a non-nondescript grey building. They passed through the checkpoint and stopped in front of an entrance guarded by several men. SG-1 flashed their credentials and entered the complex. 

Once inside, they were taken down a series of corridors. A different lieutenant was guiding them. "This way to the isolation rooms." she said. "Your doctor is being given the best care possible." 

"The best care?" Daniel said. "She's not actually sick is she?" 

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question." the lieutenant replied. "You'll have to talk to Doctor Malysh. He's from the Center for Disease Control and is in charge of her care." 

The team was led to a small office at the end of a hall. Inside, behind a desk, sat a dark-haired man. He smiled at them all as they walked into the office. "You must be the SG-1 that I've heard so much about." the doctor said. "Please, have a seat." 

"Tell us what's happened to Janet." Sam demanded after she sat down on a padded chair. 

"Your Doctor Fraiser has, unfortunately, been exposed to the Ebola virus." Malysh said. "There was an accident in the lab, her hand slipped while using a scalpel and she cut through her gloves." 

Sam cocked her head. "It's my understanding Doctor, that the Ebola virus is not airborne. Was her skin broken?" 

"No, her quarantine is merely precaution. The Ebola virus is not something to be played around with. This is deadly serious, pardon the pun." 

"Can we see her?" Daniel asked. 

"I will allow you to see her, wearing appropriate contamination suits of course. In fact, I'm glad that you're here, she's been most irate since being put into quarantine. I'm hoping that your visit will calm her down." 

Sam and Jack exchanged looks. It wasn't like Janet to become irate about anything. Janet was usually the very picture of calm. 

Doctor Malysh stood up. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to her." 

__________ 

"Is all of this really necessary?" asked Daniel's muffled voice. He had been suited up in the spacesuit and was looking very uneasy. It had been decided that Daniel would speak with her first, though Sam was practically jumping out of her skin. 

"It's merely a precaution Doctor Jackson." Malysh said and went over to a small, wall-mounted intercom. He pressed the button and spoke into her. "Doctor Fraiser." he said. "Your friends are here to visit you. I have a Doctor Jackson who's going to come in, okay?" 

Sam couldn't help but notice how condescending the doctor's tone was, as if he were speaking a small child or a mental patient. She watched as Daniel was led through a hermetically sealed doorway and disappeared. 

Daniel, who was feeling more than a little claustrophobic in his suit, tried to even out his breathing and follow the other figure in a white suit. He was anxious to speak with Janet. 

___________ 

Janet had been picking at her evening meal when Malysh's voice announced that Daniel was going to visit her. Immediately she became alarmed that they were on the base. They were quite possibly in danger just by being here. 

The door to her room opened and a two white-suited figures entered. One stumbled a bit and headed towards her, while the other hung back near the door. 

"Daniel?" Janet asked, trying to look at the face through the hood. The hood bobbed an affirmative. 

Daniel approached Janet and hovered near her bed. She looked tired. Her face was pale and gaunt and for a moment Daniel worried that she actually was ill. 

"How are you?" he asked. 

Janet shrugged. "I'd be better if I wasn't cooped up in here, being treated like a leper. I honestly don't think that I was infected." 

"We're all worried about you." Daniel said. "Hammond is too, that's why he let us go." 

Janet glanced at Daniel's escort. "You have to be careful Daniel." she said. "They're here and I don't think they want us to leave alive." 

The hood bobbed again and the escort began moving towards them. "I can't stay long Janet." he said. "Sam's anxious to talk with you." 

Janet looked up at Daniel, barely able to make out his blue eyes behind the clear faceplate. "Take care of yourself." Daniel said and then began to slowly walk out of the room. Janet wanted to call out to him, to tell him that it was Doctor Malysh who had cut through her gloves with the scalpel but she feared for her own life, as well as the lives of her friends. 

__________ 

"She seemed alright to you?" Sam asked Daniel as she began suiting up to visit Janet. 

Daniel shrugged. "She did seem a little out of it, not like the Janet we know." 

"What did she say to you?" Jack asked as he helped Sam put her arms into the suit. 

"She told me that she thinks they want us dead." 

"Big surprise there." Jack said sarcastically. 

"Is that all she said?" Sam asked. "You weren't in there for long, but surely she said more." 

"There was a guard there." Daniel said quietly, gesturing towards where the same guard stood waiting. "I got the impression that she wanted to say more, but couldn't with that guy standing in the room with us." 

Sam finished suiting up and was led by the guard into Janet's room. Janet greeted her with a smile and though Sam knew Janet couldn't see her face well, smiled back. 

"Sam." Janet said. "It's good to see you." 

"Yeah, you too. How are you?" 

"Like I told Daniel, I'm perfectly fine. Look Sam, I wanted to ask you about something." 

"About what?" 

"The phone call. Did you know this was going to happen?" 

Sam looked at Janet who was looking at her somewhat accusingly. "I have no idea what you're talking about Janet. I never called you." 

"Yes, you did. I talked to you the day before this happened to me, you told me to watch my suit." 

"I think that I'd remember telling you that." 

"It was you Sam! I know your voice and it was you!" Janet said, sounding almost hysterical. 

Sam shook her head, this really was a different Janet. "I called Cassie before we left." she said, hoping to calm Janet down a bit. "I told her that you wouldn't be home for a few days." 

"Did you tell her why?" Janet asked, pushing a limp strand of hair from her face. 

"Not the details. There's no need to overly worry her." 

"She's a big girl." Janet said. "She should have been told the truth." 

"I didn't lie to her!" Sam said, finding it difficult to deal with this Janet. "She was worried enough as it was." 

Janet flopped back onto her bed almost dramatically and sighed. Sam stood still and watched her friend. Janet's eyes were almost wild, they kept glancing between Sam and the guard, who stood impassively by the door. 

"Daniel was really worried about you." Sam said in a light-hearted voice, hoping to change the mood. 

"Oh?" Janet asked, sounding almost interested. 

"Yes, when I told him that you'd gone off the base, he was very concerned. He demanded to be the first to talk to you today." 

Janet sat up, looking a bit more calm. "How's it going with you and Colonel O'Neill by the way? Have you guys talked about...you know." 

"No, we've barely had time to eat and sleep let alone talk about that." 

"This really a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into this time, isn't it?" Janet asked rhetorically. 

"Nothing worse than before." Sam replied. 

Janet pursed her lips. "You know how sometimes things aren't what they appear to be?" she asked, looking directly at Sam. 

Sam furrowed her brow wondering where that statement had come from. "Sure, I know." she replied. 

"Like how sometimes an accident really isn't an accident? A friend of mine once said she'd gotten her pants caught on a fence and ripped them, but she really cut them herself because she hated them." 

Sam nodded slowly. "Uh huh. They must have been really ugly pants." 

Janet looked at Sam and raised her eyebrows, nodding her head slightly towards the door. The guard still stood silently. Sam narrowed her eyes, catching onto what Janet was saying. 

"So this friend of yours." Sam said. "What happened after she cut her pants?" 

"Her mother locked her in her room and wouldn't let her out, she wouldn't even let her speak to her friends." 

"Sounds rather drastic." Sam said. "Those must have been expensive pants." 

"Extremely valuable." Janet replied. 

"Well, I'd better be going." Sam said cheerfully. "It's getting rather hot inside this suit and I just knew I should have used the facilities before coming in here." 

Janet smiled at Sam. "Thanks for dropping by." she said and waved at Sam before she and guard left the room. 

___________ 

Jack walked around the room, looking up into corners and on the ceiling. He went over to Sam and whispered in her ear, "The room is bugged." 

Sam nodded and absently scratched her arm. SG-1 had been taken to a room with only a few chairs and a water cooler. "So, Janet was telling me about this friend of hers." she said. "About how she lied about catching her pants on the fence." 

Teal'c cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. Jack frowned. "Kind of a strange thing to be discussing Carter." he said. 

"Her friend actually cut the pants herself because she hated them." 

"Oh." said Daniel, the first one to catch on. 

Jack picked up a dixie cup from beside the water cooler and filled it with water. "Water anyone?" he asked, holding the cup up. 

"No thank you sir." Sam said. Jack shrugged and downed the water himself. 

"The pants were extremely valuable and Janet's friend's mother was very upset. She locked the girl in her room and wouldn't let her out." Sam continued, hoping that Jack would soon catch on. Teal'c was already nodding and Sam knew he'd picked it up. 

"You two sure talk about strange stuff." Jack said, pouring himself another cup of water. "You guys sure that you don't want any water?" 

Sam sighed inwardly. "Sir, have you ever done something on purpose but then said it was an accident?" 

"Sure, what ten year old boy hasn't? I used to trip people and then say it was an accident." 

"Exactly." Sam said, staring directly into his eyes. Jack furrowed his brow and then said, "Oh." in an almost perfect imitation of what Daniel had said earlier. 

Jack poured another glass of water. "I don't suppose anyone has any food to go along with all this water?" he asked, addressing both his team and whomever might be listening. 

"So, what did Janet's friend end up doing?" Daniel asked. 

Sam shrugged. "I don't know Daniel, we didn't get that far into the story. I'd imagine that either her mother calmed down and got over the incident, the friend broke out of her room, or some of her friends came to help her." 

"I do not believe that her mother would have 'gotten over it'." Teal'c supplied. "I believe the best course of action for her friend would have been to recruit others to assist her." 

"Exactly what I was thinking Teal'c." Jack said, crushing his paper cup in his palms. "But how would they go about doing that? Surely the mother was always watching." 

Sam moved closer to Jack and leaned over towards his face. Jack's eyes widened and he tried to push her away. "Carter!" he said sharply. "This is neither the time nor the place for that." 

Sam blushed and swore she heard Daniel laughing. She leaned towards him again, this time whispering in his ear. "These guys have got to be pretty stupid to not know what we're talking about." 

Jack shrugged and threw his crushed cup into the trash. "I don't know about you guys." he said. "But I think I need to stretch my legs." Jack strode towards the door and waited there for the rest of the team to join him. He turned the knob on the door and then swore with disgust. 

"Locked?" Sam asked. 

"Ya think?" 

"So, what do we do now?" Daniel asked. 

"We wait." Sam replied. "They're going to come eventually, it's just a question of when."   
  



	14. Chapter Fourteen

Jack pulled on the knob again, just for good measure. He wasn't surprised that they'd found themselves locked in. After the visit with Janet, all four had been led away from the isolation rooms and put into a small office, where they were told to wait for someone to come explain the situation to them. 

"Hello?" Jack said to the invisible listeners. "Listen folks. We're all having a really great time in here, but there seems to have been a misunderstanding. You see, we're locked in!" 

Daniel had sat back down on a chair and was looking contemplative. "What if." he had started to say before Jack interrupted him. Now that Jack appeared to be silent again, Daniel continued. "What if Janet wasn't really infected by any virus, what if this Doctor Malysh is just saying that?" 

Sam shrugged. "That doesn't change the fact that she's locked up there and we're locked up here. And if she has been exposed, I don't want to risk infection of anyone else. It's a tough call." 

Jack was glaring at the ceiling where a small microphone was located. "Do you suppose they have us on video too?" he asked. Jack waved a hand around. 

"We need to find out for sure if Janet was really exposed to Ebola." Daniel said, thinking out loud. "Once we know that, then we can plan the next logical course of action." 

"Which would be what?" Jack asked. "Getting the hell outta here?" 

"That's not exactly how I would put it, but yes." Daniel replied. 

Everyone in the room froze as the sound of a door being unlocked was heard. The door slowly opened and a woman stepped in. Sam gasped as she caught sight of her face. 

"Oh my God, Bonnie!" Sam exclaimed. 

Bonnie gave Sam a weak smile, "Hi." she said. 

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, instantly suspicious. 

"You two," Bonnie said, glancing at Sam and Jack. "Weren't the only ones lying about your identity." 

___________ 

"Doctor Fraiser? Are you awake?" asked the disembodied voice. 

Janet moved slightly and mumbled something about injecting epi and charging the paddles. 

"Doctor Fraiser, I need you to wake up now." 

Janet rubbed her eyes. "I'm awake." she said. 

"That's good." the voice said and the lights in her room came on. Janet blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the change in brightness. "You're going to get a visitor soon Doctor." the voice continued. 

"Is Colonel O'Neill and his team still here?" Janet asked. 

"No, I'm sorry Doctor. They were called away on urgent business." 

"Who is my visitor then?" 

"We have detected a rise in your temperature Doctor Fraiser and we are concerned about the possibility of an infection. Someone will be in shortly to administer antibiotics. We can't have your immune system compromised now, can we Doctor?" 

"What time is it?" Janet asked. She'd fallen asleep shortly after Sam had left her room and didn't feel as though she'd slept for more than a few hours. 

"It's shortly after 2300 hours. I'm sorry to have woken you." 

Janet shrugged. "I'm a doctor, I'm used to being woken up." 

___________ 

Sam looked at Bonnie, if that was indeed her name, through narrowed eyes. "Who are you really?" she asked. 

"My name is Bonnie Yergeau, I was sent by the government to keep tabs on Stan." 

"You knew he was an alien." Sam said. 

"Yes, I knew." Bonnie said with a nod. "My mission was to monitor him and make sure that he didn't become a problem." 

"A problem? How?" Jack asked. 

"I had to make sure that he didn't interfere with our alliance with the Others." 

"You knew?" Sam gasped. "You knew about their plans and you didn't do anything to stop them?" Sam was horrified. 

"I'm not proud of what I did." Bonnie said. "I know it's hard for you to understand, but we had our reasons, none of which seem valid to me any longer." 

"So you knew about these other aliens, who currently have plans to take over our animals with Goa'uld symbiotes and possibly the rest of the human population and you thought this was a good idea?" Jack asked incredulously. 

"Uhm guys." said Daniel from his perch on a chair. "I don't mean to sound nit-picky here or anything, but is it really a good idea to be discussing this when we know the room is bugged?" 

Bonnie looked at Daniel. "Don't worry about it, I shut them down before I came here." 

"So, you're in charge here?" Sam asked. 

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Bonnie replied. "I didn't mean to get you into this mess, I apologize. Meeting you and 'Charles' made me re-evaluate my position." 

"Well, I'm glad that we could help." Jack said sarcastically. "But if you really want to help us, maybe you spring us out of here?" 

"It's not as simple as that." Bonnie replied. "This whole facility is run by aliens and humans working with them. I'm afraid that there aren't many others who support my views." 

""What about Janet?" Daniel asked. "Is she really infected with the Ebola virus?" 

Bonnie shook her head. "No, she's not. We just needed to lock her away, she knew too much. The same goes for you four. But if we're going to get her out, we need to do it soon." 

"Is she in trouble?" Daniel asked. 

"You could say that. She's going to be injected with the actual Ebola virus in," Bonnie checked her watch. "15 minutes, under the pretence of it being an antibiotic shot to ward off an infection." 

Sam's eyes widened in horror. "We've got to get her out of there!" 

"Hold up." Jack said. "Why inject her with some horrible virus that will take several days to kill her? Why not just slit her throat or something?" 

"I think I can answer that question sir." Sam said. "Just before Stan died, he told me that it goes against their religion to outright kill others. That's why they gave Stan that virus." 

"But couldn't they have a human kill her, and us, for them?" 

Bonnie shook her head. "It doesn't work like that for them. They are completely against cold blooded murder. They won't allow it take place in their presence." 

Daniel looked enthralled by that concept but shook it off and stood up. "You have to help us." he said, staring at Bonnie. 

___________ 

Janet heard the now familiar clanging that meant she was going to either receive a visitor or food. She sat quietly on her bed wondering if what Doctor Malysh had said was true, if Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had really left. 

The handle on the door turned and a white suited figure entered. In its, Janet couldn't tell if it was male or female, hand was a syringe and an unmarked glass vial. 

The figure approached her and Janet shrank back into the bed towards the wall. The figure stopped in front of her and put the needle into the vial. It pulled the plunger back and the syringe filled with a clear liquid. 

"Doctor Haystrom!" said the speaker suddenly. 

The figure, who apparently was Doctor Haystrom, froze and Janet imagined they scowled. Carefully placing the empty vial on the bed, it hit on a button on the comm panel. 

"This is Haystrom." he said. Janet recognized the voice as being masculine. 

"You must report to Doctor Malysh's office at once!" 

"Can it wait, I'm administering the antibiotics to Doctor Fraiser." 

"You can do that later." said the female voice through the speaker. "I need to see you in Malysh's office, NOW!" 

Haystrom's hood bobbed and he flicked a different button on his comm panel. "Doctor Fraiser, I will return." he said and left, with the syringe in hand. 

After the door closed, Janet reached for the glass vial and examined it. There was but a trace of its contents left and there was no apparent markings on the glass. Janet threw it across the room, but it landed in her sink and didn't break. 

___________ 

"Do you suppose she's done it yet?" Daniel asked, anxious to carry out the rest of the plan. Bonnie had gone to try and stop the injection that was going to be given to Janet. SG-1 was to give her five minutes and then to go in and hopefully grab Janet. 

Jack checked his watch. "We still have 30 seconds." he said and watched the countdown. 

"Okay." he said finally and nodded. Sam and Jack moved quickly to one side of the corridor and Daniel and Teal'c moved to the other. Jack made a few hand gestures and once he was sure that everyone was clear on their orders, they began to move. 

Daniel and Teal'c disappeared down a darkened corridor to keep watch, and Sam and Jack began to move slowly towards the room that they held Janet. 

"You sure this is the way?" Jack whispered. 

"Of course I'm sure!" Sam whispered back. "Keep walking!" 

They approached an intersection of the corridors and Jack peered around the edge. "Is it clear?" Sam asked. 

Jack turned to face her and drew a hand across his throat. "Someone's coming!" he said as quietly as possible. 

Sam heard the footsteps approaching them and glanced around frantically for a place to hide. Turning to her last resort, she grabbed Jack and began to kiss him. 

Jack struggled a bit, immediately trying to pull away from her, but then realized what she was doing. 

"Hey, you two!" said a male voice. "You know the rules! No fraternization while on the base!" 

Sam stopped kissing Jack and looked at the man over Jack's shoulder. "Sorry." she said before quickly moving around Jack and swinging a fist at the man. He didn't know what had hit him and dropped to the floor without any resistance. 

Jack stood looking somewhat stunned. "I must have taken a different Air Force training course." he muttered. 

"Come on, let's go!" Sam said and continued down the hall. 

___________ 

Janet stood in front of the mirror in her small room and contemplated her reflection. She looked exhausted, even more so than she had during her medical training. She put a hand on her forehead, it didn't feel warm to her. 

It had occurred Janet a while ago, that what Doctor Malysh had told her might not be true. She had no way of knowing whether he had actually found Ebola in Stan's body. She wasn't even sure who Doctor Malysh really was, but she'd bet her life that if she called the CDC, they'd tell her that there was no Doctor Malysh on staff. 

She ran a little water and splashed it on her face. It didn't do much to revive her, what she really needed was a nice, long, hot shower, with plenty of body wash and a loofah scrub. Well, okay maybe she could do without the loofah, but it would be nice. 

Janet held her breath as she heard the clanging again. She reached for the towel that was hanging off a small hook and wiped her face with it. The doorknob turned and a familiar blonde head appeared around the door. 

"Sam!" Janet said, instantly happy to see her friend and at the same time alarmed that she wasn't wearing a suit. 

Sam entered the room, followed by Jack who held the door open. 

"Janet, we have to leave!" Sam said, her voice urgent. "You aren't contaminated, so don't worry." 

"But..." Janet said, looking slightly befuddled. 

"It's a long story and I'm sure someone will be happy to fill you later." Jack said. "But right now, we really have to leave!" 

Janet threw the towel down and followed the two out the door.   
  



	15. Chapter Fifteen

Sam, Jack and Janet met Daniel and Teal'c at the end of the darkened corridor. "Which way?" Daniel asked in a hushed tone. 

Sam tried to visualize the path they'd taken when they entered the building and were taken to the isolation rooms. "I think it's this way." she said, pointing to the right. 

"You think?" Jack asked. 

"Okay, I'm sure it's this way." Sam replied. 

The group began to move quickly down the corridor to the right. Daniel grabbed Janet's hand as he noticed that she was having difficulty keeping up with the fast pace. 

"Hey!" said a voice echoing off the walls. 

The group stopped moving. Sam turned around, recognizing the voice. Bonnie was running down the corridor after them, waving her arms. 

"Hey." Bonnie said again, slightly out of breath after catching up with them. 

"Come with us." Sam said. 

Bonnie shook her head. "I can't. I just wanted to say good luck. I can't leave, if anyone finds out what I've done, I'll be thrown in jail or worse. I should stay here." 

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. 

Bonnie nodded. "I'm sure. You guys can do one more thing to help me though." 

"What's that?" Sam asked. 

"There's a room, it's marked as 55D. I'll give you my keycard. Inside are some weapons, zats and that sort of thing and there are some explosives. I need you to plant the explosives in the building." 

Sam looked horrified. "Not with you in the building." she said, not wanting to let her friend die. 

"It might be your only chance to take down these aliens." Bonnie said. "Please don't waste it." 

Reluctantly Sam nodded and she knew that what Bonnie had suggested had to be done. 

"Go." Bonnie said. "They must have noticed that Doctor Fraiser isn't locked up anymore. I'll do my best to keep them off your tails." 

Sam smiled at Bonnie. "Thank you. For everything." she said and Bonnie nodded. The group turned away from Bonnie and continued down the corridor. 

____________ 

"Everything set?" Jack asked. 

"Yes sir." Sam replied. "I've rigged the devices to detonate in approximately four minutes. We'd better get moving if we don't want to get caught in the blast wave." 

"Let's move people!" Jack said with a sense of urgency. With Jack's words, they all started to run across the cement, heading towards the check-point. 

The guards at the check-point were taken by surprise and easily taken out with several well-timed zat blasts. Sam checked her watch. "30 seconds!" she said and they continued to run. 

Behind them, the entire complex burst into a giant fireball. The group stopped running and turned around to watch the destruction. The entire night sky was lit up as the fires burned and the smell of acrid smoke began to drift towards them. 

"Where do we go now?" asked Janet, who was still getting her breath back. 

Jack looked upwards and pointed at a helicopter that had just come into view. "I think that's our ride right there." he said, pointing at the chopper. A searchlight lit them up and the chopper began to drop down towards a large empty area. 

They ran towards it, shielding their eyes from the wind created by the rotating blades. 

"Colonel O'Neill?" yelled a voice from the chopper. "Do you have everyone with you?" 

"Everyone is present and accounted for!" Jack yelled back. They approached the chopper and were helped inside of it. 

"Our orders are to return you immediately to Cheyenne Mountain where you will report directly to General Hammond to be debriefed." said the sergeant who had helped them into the helicopter. 

Jack nodded wearily, leaning back against an equipment box. Sam had sat down next to him and he could still feel her chest heaving. The chopper began to rise and through the window, Jack watched as emergency crews began to arrive at the scene. 

____________ 

"So, let me get this straight." Hammond said, staring at Jack and Sam in disbelief. "This Bonnie woman who you two befriended while undercover, was actually undercover herself and working for the enemy." 

"That's correct sir." Sam replied. 

"And she's now dead?" 

"Yes sir." Jack replied this time. "Along with what I presume to be the base of operations for these aliens and the rogue members of our government. If you don't mind me asking sir, what prompted you to send in a helicopter to look for us?" 

"When you failed to report in at the designated time, I decided that I wasn't going to take any chances." Hammond said. 

"Well, thanks." said Jack. "You probably saved our asses, again." 

Hammond nodded, looking pleased. "You two are dismissed." he said. "I'd appreciate it if you would find Doctor Fraiser and send her in. I need to get her report of the events. 

Sam and Jack stood up and exited Hammond's office. Teal'c was standing passively against a wall and he greeted them. "O'Neill." he said. "I have been asked to inform you that Doctor Fraiser has retired for the night." 

"I don't blame her." Sam said. "I'm feeling pretty tired myself." 

Jack nodded in agreement and stuck his head back inside Hammond's office. "The Doc's gone to bed!" he called to Hammond. 

"Very well." came Hammond's reply. "I'll speak with her in the morning." 

"You heading home?" Sam asked Jack. 

"I thought I'd just spend the night on base." Jack replied. 

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Sam replied. "But I'm feeling a bit hungry. You up for something at the commissary?" 

Jack contemplated that for a moment before nodding. "Sure, and I wouldn't mind stopping off at the washrooms. I knew I shouldn't have had all that water to drink when we were locked up." 

Sam smiled slightly and the two of them headed off. 

___________ 

"So, uh, Carter...about what happened between us..." Jack said, picking at a chunk of carrot cake with his fork. 

Sam looked up from her bowl of soup. "Yeah." she said, sighing a little. She really hadn't wanted to talk about it, after all that had happened. 

"It was all part of the act, wasn't it?" Jack said. 

"The act?" Sam asked, feeling a bit confused. 

"You know, the whole pretending to be married act." 

"No! Jack...I..I don't know what to say, but I can tell you that what happened between us in the basement that day wasn't part of the act." 

Jack raised his eyebrows and flipped the cake over on the plate. A bit of icing oozed out and Jack scraped it up with his fork. "Nothing can happen." he said finally. "Not while we're serving together." 

Sam nodded. "I know." she said softly. "Do you remember what you said to me when you held me?" 

"Maybe there's a way." Jack murmured. He put the fork down and gave up entirely on the carrot cake. 

"What did you mean by that?" Sam asked. 

Jack sighed. "It's complicated Carter. To tell you the truth, retirement's been on my mind a lot lately. But now with this new threat..." his voice trailed off. 

"With this new threat, you'd feel as if you were abandoning Earth." Sam finished for him. "I understand." 

"Exactly. I have to keep fighting." 

Sam put her spoon down and gazed at her half finished bowl of soup. "I think I'm going to bed now." she said. Jack nodded. "I'll see you in the morning." she said and pushed her chair away from the table. Jack watched her walk away and as he looked at his cake, he let his mind wander back to the pink house on the quiet street. 

___________ 

As Daniel passed by the infirmary the next day, he paused to look inside. He was eager to speak with Janet and hear what Hammond had said to her. Jack had told him that Janet was due for a debrief that morning. 

Inside the infirmary, Janet was settled in front of a microscope. 

"Hey Janet." Daniel said. "I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?" 

Janet looked up from the microscope and shook her head. "No, it's nothing." 

"What are looking at?" Daniel asked, coming closer. He glanced at the slide. "Is that blood?" he asked. 

Janet looked almost embarrassed. "Yes, it's my blood." she said. "I just wanted to know if..." 

"If that whole Ebola thing was just a ruse." Daniel said nodding. "I understand. I'd probably do the same thing. Have you found anything?" 

Janet shook her head. "From what I can tell. I'm perfectly healthy." 

"That's good to hear. Jack said that you spoke with Hammond this morning?" 

Janet nodded. "Yeah, he kept me in his office for well over an hour. He wanted to know exactly how I'd been contained on that base and who was involved. He's put me on stand down for a few days." 

"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home with Cassie?" 

"This was really bothering me Daniel. I couldn't go home to Cassie unless I knew for sure that I wouldn't be a danger to her." 

"You can go home now." Daniel said. "You need a ride?" 

"No, I have my car here. Thanks anyway. Did Hammond put SG-1 on stand down?" 

Daniel grimaced. "No, he's got us scheduled for an off world recon mission in five hours. I think he should have though. I get the impression that Sam and Jack could use some time off." 

"They have some things to work through." Janet said, not wanting to elaborate too much as she didn't know how much Jack had told Daniel of what happened between himself and Sam. 

Daniel suddenly looked extremely interested and Janet instantly regretted saying anything. "What sort of things?" Daniel asked. 

"Nothing." Janet said quickly. "I'd better get going before someone gets injured and I can't leave. If your mission doesn't last too long, feel free to drop by. I'm sure Cassandra would love to see you." 

Janet scooted off her stool, put the slide into a bio-waste container and threw her lab coat down on a table and took off. Daniel stood rooted on the spot, wondering what exactly had happened between Sam and Jack. 

___________ 

"Jack!" Daniel yelled over the noise of a vacuum cleaner. "Can I talk to you?" 

Jack switched off the vacuum and stared at Daniel. "What about?" he asked, obviously not in a good mood. 

"For starters, why you're vacuuming your quarters. There are people that do that for us you know." 

"I know." Jack replied. "It just looked extremely dusty and I felt vacuuming it, okay? Be thankful that you aren't wearing a towel right now." 

"What?" Daniel asked. "Why would I be wearing a towel?" 

"Never mind." Jack muttered. 

"I just had an interesting conversation with Janet. She said something about you and Sam having work some things through." 

"The Doc still here? I thought Hammond put her on stand down." 

"She just left. She had to um, check something before she left. What happened between you and Sam, Jack?" 

"Nothing! Nothing happened, alright?" Jack said angrily. "We came, we pretended to be married and we left. End of story." 

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think so. Something else is going on here. You two didn't..." 

"Didn't what Daniel?" 

Daniel blushed. "You know." "Uh hey guys." said a feminine voice from the doorway. Both Daniel and Jack looked up and saw Sam looking a bit uncomfortable. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your male bonding session, but Hammond wants to see us in the briefing room, ASAP." 

"Did he say what it was about?" Daniel asked. 

Sam shook her head. "He didn't elaborate. I imagine it has something to do with our scheduled mission today though." 

Jack threw down the vacuum cleaner wand and marched out of the room, leaving Sam and Daniel to follow. "Sam." Daniel began. 

"Don't even think about it Daniel." Sam said, cutting him off. 

"Don't even think about what?" Daniel asked, trying to sound confused. 

"Think about asking me what happened." 

"I wasn't. I was going to ask you why Jack would think I'd visit him wearing only a towel." 

Sam snorted. "Was he vacuuming when you came into the room?" Daniel nodded and Sam actually laughed. "Let's just say that we had a bit of an incident while I was vacuuming one day." she said. 

"Oookay. Not sure I really want to know!" Daniel replied. 

They entered the briefing room just behind Jack and found Teal'c already seated and General Hammond standing at the end of the table. He nodded to each member of SG-1 as they entered the room and took a seat. 

"What's this meeting about General?" queried Jack. 

"As you know, we've contacted the Tok'ra regarding these aliens that seemed to have infiltrated our government." said the general. "They obviously knew about them if they had a spy planted on Earth. We've just received a message from the Tok'ra and they're sending a representative over to speak with us." 

"Do we know will be coming?" asked Sam, who was eager to see her father, no matter what the circumstances. 

"They didn't say." replied Hammond. "But as we don't know when to expect this Tok'ra to arrive, I'm cancelling your mission today and putting SG-1 on standby. You're free to leave the base, but you must remain within contact range." 

SG-1 nodded and looked at Hammond expectantly to see if he had anything more to say. "That's it people, you're dismissed." he said. 

___________ 

A while later, Sam found Daniel pulling on his jacket. "Heading off Daniel?" she asked. 

"Yup. Janet told me that I could drop by if I had the time, so I thought I'd go and see how she and Cassie are doing. You stayin' here?" 

Sam nodded. "Yep. Thought I'd stick around in case something comes up." 

"For what it's worth Sam, I hope it's your dad that comes through the gate and not Anise/Freya. Even if she did make me read really fast, she certainly made a mess of everything else." 

Sam smiled sadly. "Yeah, she sure did." 

Daniel looked quizzically at Sam. "You okay?" he asked. 

"Fine. Fine. I'm fine. You have a good time at Janet's, say hi to Cassie for me, okay?" 

"Yeah sure." Daniel turned to leave but then turned around again. "And Sam? You might want to talk to Jack. I don't know what happened between you two, but I think you'd better work it out." 

Sam gave Daniel a withering look and Daniel turned and headed off down the corridor. Sam checked her watch and noticed that it was past noon. Her stomach growled, confirming Sam's notion that she should eat something. She started off for the commissary, hoping that whomever the Tok'ra were sending, would come quickly.   
  



End file.
